The Wolf and Daisies
by ReinettePompadour
Summary: After her parents death, Claudia Everett comes to realize that she is a witch after a man named Dumbledore tells the truth about her heritage. She needs to figure out why her parents went into hiding and who killed them. As she investigates, she becomes closer to the DADA professor: Remus Lupin. They get closer but they can't do anything because she still was in school.
1. Chapter Zero

If he could have compared her to a type of flower, he would have chosen the Gerbera daisy. Gerbera daisies were known for their beautiful petals and vibrant colors and brides all around the world, witches or Muggle brides, always relying on the vibrant flowers to express their feelings. As her hair suggest, she was definitely a light blue Gerbera daisy, elegant and gracefully; beautiful and serene.

But she could have also been compared to a gyrfalcon with her ferocity and fast reflex. Yes despite the fact that a gyrfalcon is the largest falcon and she was tiniest witch in Hogwarts clashed with each other, it didn't mean anything when she was in par with Hermione Granger, let alone she was Hermione's best friend. Being 5'3", smaller than Hermione, wizards and witches underestimates her for being weak. But heartbreak and the loss of a family can either strengthen one's soul or weaken it.

Her sunken, gunmetal blue eyes was always serious despite how often Harry or the Weasley twins make her laugh. You don't expect an orphan to know what true happiness is, especially the orphan who remembers her parents brutal deaths. Some are even surprised that she is able to function in school. McGonagall was fierce when she defended Claudia. " _She has the abilities to learn and grow . And that won't happen if you stand as an obstacle on her path of life!_ " She had yelled, causing Cornelius Fudge to step down and let the girl study. McGonagall had become Claudia's godmother.

But McGonagall was the godmother of every Gryffindor in her house. However, despite her Godmother being a head of Gryffindor, Claudia wasn't a Gryffindor, but a Slytherin. Some say that Sorting Hat made a blunder by sorting her in Slytherin but the Sorting Hat never makes a mistake. And Claudia liked being a Slytherin but there were times that she wished she was in the same house as Hermione.

He shouldn't have known all of this about her. He was a professor and he knew all about being professional but yet he couldn't fathom why he was so enamored by her. Maybe it was the wolf in him but Remus the Human knew that it was a dangerous game he was playing.

But he couldn't help it when those deep set eyes stares at him while he teaches or drink tea with him and Hermione together. She was a silent as a statue but all knowing as a deity. Remus knew this...fatuation with her was unhealthy. What he meant by unhealthy, he actually meant: waking up hard in middle of the night, a dream about Claudia on his bed, receiving him fading away slowly in the far recess of his mind. But he knew that it was his wolf reacting to her. The human Remus wouldn't dare think about his student that way.

Sirius was right: he really needed to get laid.


	2. Chapter One

_August 10th 1995 - Carlisle, United Kingdom._

It was the usual cloudy day over Carlisle, making the sky look hue of stormy white. Citizens of Carlisle grumbled; oh, how they wished for one sunny day. But there some people who loved the constant cloudy and gloomy day. To them, it wasn't gloomy. It was perfect. It was a Saturday, a weekend, and resulting of empty streets. Carlisle was not a town but not a city either. It was in between with the population of 90,000. A mini city as you may call it. It was your average city with its five hospitals and multiple high schools and slightly abandoned orphanage.

In this unusual quiet day, a car driving by might have turned heads but strangely, a loud pop was ignored by the citizens. A second ago, there was an empty spot beside a tall palm tree with overgrown weeds but a second later, a tall, elderly man stood there. This man was odd. He was wearing a robe that was dark blue with stars on it. He had a long, white hair and half moon spectacles sat on top of his slightly large nose, his blue eyes twinkling behind it. He wore a strange hat on top of his head, a cone shaped but it sagged behind him. On top of his robe, he wore a midnight black robe that dragged on the floor.

If the citizens of Carlisle paid attention to this odd, elderly man they would have laughed at his weird get up. Halloween was no where near and this elderly man was already dressing up. They would laugh. They would point. But the thing was they _couldn't_ pay attention this elderly man who began his journey by walking. It's like something in their kind is telling them not to look at the older man with great interest. Every time they looked away, they would forget about him.

As the older man kept on walking towards the orphanage that looks run down from the outside, a deep frown settled onto his weathered face. The last time he visited an orphanage, he had released the great evil known as Voldemort. He had received an anonymous tip from a very ordinary barn owl that there was a witch in the rundown orphanage. He could have easily sent McGonagall to find out the truth but something was telling him that he should do this personally. As he climbed the stairs, the older man couldn't help but revisit the memories leading up to Tom Riddle's joining Hogwarts.

The older man scoffed to himself as he stopped by the door. This girl couldn't be the next dark lord. He would try his best to steer her away from that path but the old guy didn't know where Tom Riddle went wrong. Internally shaking his head, the elderly gentleman entered the orphanage. Immediately, he was met by over eager muggle (a non-magical person) who didn't exactly look into his customers eyes. He didn't know why he couldn't but he just couldn't!

"How may I help you?" he asked, tilting his head up. Remembering what the anonymous note said, the older guy cleared his throat.

"I am here for the teenagers, girls are much preferable." the older guy said. The muggle blinked at the old man for few seconds then nodded. He told him to follow him. He took the door that was left of the reception desk. The elderly guy followed the muggle who was describing each teen they had, both male and female, in great length. The elderly man ignored the man, not seeming to care for what he said. As he described each orphan, they passed by a room filled with kids in their teens. They weren't looking at the pair of men who stopped by the door.

"...one more teen left, but I don't think she would be appropriate for an elderly man like you." said the man, hesitantly. That is what pulled the elderly gentleman unto the conversation. He looked at the Muggle with raised eyebrows.

"Why not?" he asked and muggle smiled hesitantly.

"She has a terrible streak of breaking things. Her name is Claudia Everett. Got admitted two months ago and she is already on the Terrible List. But you could expect that much though." said the muggle, looking down sadly. "Her parents were brutally murdered in the most unusual and mysterious ways."

Intrigued, the elderly man nodded for the man to continue. "No injuries were found on the dead bodies. Once asked how it happened, Claudia responded by saying that a robbed man pointed something at her parents and flash of green light had killed them. The police have reasoned that by experiencing the death of her parents made her come up with ridiculous story. She still sticks with her explanation despite the police anger."

"Take me to her, sir." The man looked at the elderly man with a raised eyebrows, shocked. "It's the most troubled ones that needs love." The muggle didn't bother to answer but simply nod in consent. He passed the room with the solemn teenagers and walked deeper into the orphanage. The floorboards creaked in protest, telling the old, wise man that these parts didn't see that much people. Wherever sunlight flitted through the murky windows, dust floated lazily in the air. A flash of irk throbbed in the old man's head as he continued to see see the evidence of lethargic responsibilities.

"Where _exactly_ are you taking me? This is quite far from the rest of children." asked the older man and the Muggle turned around, grimacing.

"She really is volatile. Everytime she gets mad, something happens that makes it even more worse. One time, a glass of Mrs. Swit's favorite china exploded. The latest...excitement, is when she turned really furious and the pipes in the wall exploded, basically flooding the orphanage. How she does it, I have no clue. Some might even call her a _witch_! Imagine that!" said the muggle, letting out a guffaw. The older man smirked at the words, not even bothering to comment. The thing with muggles that baffles him were how close they hit home without even knowing what they are doing.

The two men stopped at a brown wooden door that had **Solitary** painted on it with white paint. The muggle knocked on the door and didn't bother to wait for answer, opening the door. The door swung with a creak and revealing a surprisingly bright room, despite the absence of windows. A long tube of glass was attached to the ceiling, and it was the reason was the reason why the room was bright.

There was a meager single bed with a not so comfortable looking mattress. It's sheets were plain white but the comforter had a faint, faded floral print on it. There was a old, wooden armoire opposite to the bed. A rugged carpet covered the floor, though the threads were coming out.

And in the middle of the room stood Claudia Everett, in plain white t shirt and blue jeans that seemed skinny on her but yet it fitted her. She had pastel blue hair that ended right a over her hips and sunken blue eyes that held a blank expression. She stared at the elderly guy longer then turned to look at a wall.

"Claudia, this man wants to talk to you so...behave." was all the Muggle said before leaving the two of them alone. The elderly man walked inside the room and the girl walked towards the corner of the room, wanting to be further away from the strange man in strange robes.

"Miss. Everett, it is a pleasure to meet you. There are things that we have to discuss. But first, I will like to introduce myself."

No reply from the sullen girl.

"I am Albus Dumbledore."


	3. Chapter Two

_There is a strange man sitting on my bed._

I stared at the elderly man, warily. He is not a child predator, right? Mr. Benson would have caught him. He was wearing this dark robe that was slightly off the ground, showing off dress shoes. Over the top of the robe, was black... cape? I wasn't sure but it was bit cool to wear a cloak, I suppose. In Halloween, though. He even has a pointed hat that sagged on his head. He has grown out his beard that reached his navel and sore half moon glasses. His blue eyes were twinkling with amusement as he watched me assess him.

"What kind of name is Albus Dumbledore?" I blurted out, curiosity letting the control of tongue go. My mom would be so ashamed for such a childish, brazen question. "I am sorry."

Albus just shook his hand and smiled. "Don't worry. I always get that questions from young ones. I always wondered what outrageous alcohol she consumed when she named me." he joked and I gave him a small smile. It was not like I didn't want to laugh but the sudden thought of my mom brought a gloom over me.

"What is your business with me?" I asked, jumping right into it. "Are you here to adopt me?"

"Sort of. I am here to explain what you are and if you want, I can take you away from here." elaborated Albus and I gave him a raised eyebrow.

" _What_ I am?" I asked him, confused.

"Why do you think the china broke when you didn't even touch it? Why do you think that pipes busted when you didn't even do anything but just be mad?" he countered and I gave him a blank expression.

"You think I caused those things to happen? So, you also think I am at fault here." I said, anger rising in me. I turned my back at him, disturbed that I had hoped that this guy would've been a lot different. Something about his eyes were accepting but his words were totally opposite; so expectant.

"Technically speaking, yes, you are fault at here. The reality, no, you are not at fault here because you didn't do it intentionally. There is a real reason why these things happen to you when your emotions are heightened, Claudia." Albus explained more and I turned to look at him, with my eyes wide open. [i]A real reason why this was happening to me? I am not really a monster?[/i]

"A reason? There is a reason?! Tell me, Mr. Dumbledore. Tell me so I don't have to doubt my sanity any longer."

"You, my dear, are a witch and no, I am not using that term as a derogatory."

Before the death of my parents, before my life turned into shit, I had a fairly good life during high school. I had many friends, ranging from the age of 16 to 20. During high school, pre-teens turn into full blown out teenagers, thus the license to yell out profanities and make obscene gestures were expected (not allowed but expected). Gaining respect was easy to get with your peers but slightly harder for teachers.

I am not saying that I am goody two shoes that I bowed at every teacher's whims but I wasn't a total assholes to everyone around me. Yes, people have called me be a bitch for my opinions and even an asshole. But no one ever-EVER-in my entire life called me a _witch_.

Well, he did say that he wasn't using it as a derogatory term.

"What?" I asked, dumbly. Dumbledore chuckled and I kept on staring at him with a blank expression.

"Claudia, do you believe in magic? When I mean by magic, I don't mean by making cards disappear or whatever that 'magicians'," he made the quotation signs with his fingers, "do. I am talking about real magic."

I thought about my answer. Looking at what he was wearing, he did resemble Merlin from King Arthur. "Well, it's a huge world out there, isn't it? There are bound to be magic. I just have to see it to believe it." I answered diplomatically. Dumbledore smirked as he removed this wooden stick that had weird bumps throughout it. He pointed at an empty cup and muttered something latin.

The empty cup immediately rattled for few seconds then softly lifted into the air. I glanced back at Dumbledore just to see him moving the wooden stick to my right and looked at the cup to see it follow the wooden stick's movement. I jumped away in shock as I watched the cup go back to place it sat.

"No freaking way. Are you saying that _I_ could do _that_?" I exclaimed, pointing at the stationary cup. "That pipeline burst and the china exploding is because _I_ have magic?"

Dumbledore just nodded and the feeling of some kind of heavy weight being lifted off my shoulder made me slid to the ground. "So, I am not a monster?" I asked, timidly, eyes brewing up with tears.

"No, you are not." Dumbledore said, simply shaking his head. It was silent for few minutes and Dumbledore shifted again which made me analyze his expression. It was quite serious, there was no more twinkling action going in his blue eyes anymore which brought heaviness to the atmosphere. "Claudia, you do realize that you being a witch also means that you parents were magically inclined."

My eyes widened up as understanding of what he was saying dawned on me. Now that I think about it, there were times that didn't make sense to me. Two years back, on Christmas Day, I couldn't light the fireplace with matches and I asked dad if he could help me. I remember looking away to grab more matches when I felt the fire roar in the fire pit. He had simply shrugged and said that he had his own matches. Another evidence of magic could have been when mom was cutting vegetables and had rather cut herself rather deeply. I had ran to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit and came back just to see that there was no wound on her finger. Mom just said that I didn't trust her with cooking to the point of creating scenarios.

"Why wouldn't they tell me if they were wizards?" I asked, softly. "Why would they hide it?" Dumbledore just stared at me as he watched me figure it out by myself. "They were hiding magic from me because...they themselves were in hiding."

Dumbledore nodded in affirmation. "But why were they hiding? Who were they hiding from?! So, when I told the cops that a robed man killed my parents with this green surge of light...was I telling the truth?" I asked and Dumbledore nodded again in affirmation. Honestly, I sort of convinced myself that I created that scenario to...to...I don't know for what reason but I thought the someone couldn't die from green light.

"Now that figured out what you are and what really happened with your parents, it's time for you to get out of here as soon as possible. As soon as you are in the magical world, the safer you are. I am going to take you to Hogwarts first then we will figure things out from there."

"Hogwarts?"


	4. Chapter Three

I was standing behind Dumbledore who was talking to director of the orphanage about my release. I bit my lip in puzzlement. Was it really all right for me to go with this Dumbledore? What he said sounded so farfetched that I am thinking twice of the man being a nutter. But what he explained to me, about _magic_ , made total sense of what was going around me. The way my parents died actually happened; that I totally didn't imagine it by the traumatic death of my parents. The question is: should I trust a man who seems to have all the answers?

Where is this Hogwarts, anyways? I never even heard of it. I looked at the discussion just to notice something: none of them were looking at Dumbledore as they spoke to each other. They were facing his way but their eyes seems to look at anywhere but him. Before I could analyze it more, everyone straightened up with huge, beaming smiles on their face. The director looked over Dumbledore shoulder and said, "Dumbledore is your parental figure now. Have a nice life."

Nice life? Was there such thing anymore? Dumbledore caught the grimace and smiled kindly at me. He walked towards me but stopped midway. He turned on his heel and pointed his wand at the employees of the orphanage. In return, the director looked at the wooden stick in alarm.

" _Obliviate_." Dumbledore uttered and I saw them look dazed, their eyes glazed over. Dumbledore turned around and walked out of the orphanage. I was rooted in spot, watching the glazed eyes turn normal. They looked at me as if they noticed me for the first time. "Hello, ma'am! Are you thinking about adoption?"

 _As if they forgot about me..._ I shook my head and walked out of the orphanage to see Dumbledore waiting for me. "What did you do to them? They are acting as if they forgot about me."

"They _did_ forget about you. The spell I casted made them forget about you and you only. The only reason I did that because no Muggles should know about wizardry and magic. I have removed your name from their archives and from their memories so if someone were to ask about you, they wouldn't know the answer because they don't know who they are asking about." explained Albus as we walked down the street. No one was paying attention to us despite the fact that Dumbledore was wearing weird clothes.

"Why aren't they noticing your...interesting choice of clothing?" I asked, giving him a curious look.

"I have put a Notice-Me-Not charm on ourselves because, like I've said, no non-magical people should know about magic." answered Dumbledore and I nodded in understanding. We came to stop under a pine tree. "Miss. Everett, I would like you to hold onto my arm with a sure grip because we are going to apparate."

I immediately wove my hand around his wiry arms but I was still incredulous. "Apparate? What is that?" I asked, suddenly feeling cold sweat. Dumbledore just smiled at me.

"It's a mode of transportation. You guys call it teleportation. Warning, though, first time apparating will induce vomiting." said Dumbledore. My eyes widened in horror as Albus gripped my hand that was resting in bicep in a reassuring but a firm grip. It happened out of no where. I felt a pull in my stomach and pressure everywhere. I felt like I was being squeezed through a tube while someone was putting pressure on my eyes. It felt like two minutes of pain but in reality, it was barely ten seconds. Dumbledore stood on the ground as if the effects of this 'apparate' didn't affect him while I stumbled slightly. I leaned over, my hands on my knees as I gagged couple of times. Only noise that was going on was me dry heaving over the...green grass? Suddenly, I stopped heaving and snapped back, standing ramrod straight.

"What the fuck?" I whispered, mostly to myself. I was no longer on the streets of Carlisle. There no long buildings with towers on it or little stores with pastries at the window. It was all green, lush and open all around. It was beautiful space and I saw Dumbledore looking behind me with a soft smile. I turned around and I might have let out a squeak as my jaw dropped.

Right in front of me was a huge castle with spires reaching towards the sky as ancient fingers. There was a big lake beside the castle and some sort of Stadium was slightly behind the castle. "Is this...Hogwarts?" I asked, tentatively, to Dumbledore. He nodded in affirmation and I continued to gape at the the castle. "Where is it, honestly?"

"Scotland. Somewhere in Scotland."

"Let me guess: Notice-Me-Not charms were placed on it." I said and only answer I got was a chuckle. Magic was real. I am really a witch. "When will I get my...wand and my...robes?" I indicated his full body.

"I was planning to introduce you to the teachers and get you sorted into the school. After that, I will send you with my most trusted professor Remus Lupin to Diagon Alley where you can buy your wand, robes, school books, potion ingredients and much more. You will have a list and you will get money from my bank, now that you are technically my daughter." explained Dumbledore, smiling at me. I gave him a deciphering look, trying to find out who this old man really _was_. Maybe, I will ask other students about him.

We stopped by a two room hut with carriages in front of the house. The carriage were held by this type of animal that resembled a horse but with black leather skin over bones. I could see their rib bones protrude sharply under the skin but they didn't look hungered at all. On their backs, attached right ba huge span of leather wings that was folded to their back. _They are kind of cute_. Dumbledore came back out and indicated me to climb on the carriage. I grabbed the bar that was for holding and hoisted myself. I sat all the way at the edge, wanting to be closer to the horses.

"What are these animals that are pulling the carriages?" I asked Dumbledore as he sat down in front of me. The horse-like animal immediately started to trot towards the castle, it's mangled mane shifting at the breeze.

"Thestrals. People who have witnessed death are the only ones who can see them. Morbid, aren't they?" said Dumbledore. It kind of made sense to me.

"Morbid, but really cute. Are they okay with this work?" I asked, indicating the carriage. Dumbledore nodded.

"The forest that we take care of is their home. We give them food and shelter for their babies and home to return to. Any of the creatures that you find in Hogwarts are treated with great care." assured Dumbledore and I smiled, at ease. I reached out and pet the warm, leather hide of thestrals. In return, it neighed and tossed its head up and down.

I wonder if my parents knew about these magnificent creatures. Probably. What were they hiding from? Whom were they hiding from? It seems that Dumbledore doesn't even know. Baby steps, I guess. As we got closer to the gate, Hogwarts loomed over but it wasn't scary at all. It was exciting but had a mystery feel to it; a mystery to be found out about. I wonder how the teachers would be. Would they be equally powerful as Dumbledore?

The gates to the wizarding school opened enough to let one carriage in. It closed as we went past it, going deeper into the lush grounds of Hogwarts. I glanced up at the sky to see several owls carrying packages in and out of the tallest building. I assume they don't have postal shipment as we do...or Muggle do. I am no longer a Muggle. First thing first, I have to figure out why my parents decided to go on the run. Second thing, make some friends. Or should that be the first thing to do?

"All right, Claudia, this is where we get off. So, after you." informed Dumbledore just as the carriage come to a slow stop. The door to the carriage opened by itself and I climbed down. Dumbledore was swift at getting down, beside being...what was his age? Is it rude to ask him that? I decided that I would ask him later on.

I followed him into the looming castle, through the gates of Hogwarts. The hall was empty from students and it was silent. I gazed up at the ceiling to see it was beautifully structured and high. Dumbledore kept on walking and I hurried up to catch up with him. Can't he walk slower? It's the first time I have been here and I want to see everything. Dumbledore looked down and gave me a soft smile. I smiled at him, sighing. We turned into a hall that had a gargoyle statue at the end.

"My office is access through that statue. This hall is called the Gargoyle Corridor. The password is Lemon Drops. I tend to like them." answered Dumbledore and I giggled at that.

"I like them, too."

"Wonderful. I got some in my office. We can have some while I introduce to to the teachers and getting sorted into a house." he said then uttered the password. The gargoyles spiraled slowly, the sound of stones grating filled the hallway. As the front of the gargoyle turned towards the back, a stairway appeared. Dumbledore started to climb and I followed shortly.

"Houses?" I prompted and he looked over his shoulders.

"There are four: Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. The way you are sorted in is by your attributes and personality. Hufflepuffs are loyal, hardworking, patient. Ravenclaws are smart and thorough. Gryffindors are courageous and big hearted. Slytherins are cunning, strategist. Each of these house has their own animals. Hufflepuffs is a badger, Ravenclaw is, well, a raven, Gryffindor is a lion, and Slytherin is a snake." explained Dumbledore as we stopped in front of a wooden door.

"Which is a good House?" I asked, tentatively. I am nervous. What if I am not liked?

"All of them are good. Most students think that Slytherin is a bad house because the biggest enemy we are facing currently belonged to it and there are Pureblood supremacists in there but that is how they were raised by. Don't get deterred because of it. It is still a honorable house to be in." he answered, smiling down at me. That soothed me...somewhat.

I hope I don't get into Slytherin. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor sounds cool. The door opened magically and the office was occupied by five females, two males, one dwarf or gnome, and one... GHOST? I blinked ny eyes at that two professors. A gnome/dwarf and a ghost...ghosts are real?!

"Welcome to Hogwarts, the school of Witchcraft, Claudia."


	5. Chapter Four

"Ghosts are real?" I asked, staring at the apparition with shock and amazement. The ghost ruffled up, puffing his chest out.

"Ghost are very well real. He is the professor of History of Magic, Professor Binns. These are the professors of Hogwarts. There is one person missing because he is a half Giant but you will meet him soon. I will introduce you to the teachers now."

 _Giants?_

"This is Professor Sinistra and she teaches Astronomy." A tall, dark skinned woman with a stern gaze. She nodded at me.

"You already know Professor Binns. This is Professor Flitwick and teaches Charms and Head of Ravenclaw house." It was the gnome/dwarf. He gave a wave with a big smile. I waved back, already beginning to like him.

"This is Professor McGonagall. She is teacher of Transfiguration. She is the Head of the Gryffindor house." an elderly lady with her gray hair twisted in a bun. She looked severe but there was something maternal look in her eyes. My heart skipped a beat.

"Next to her is Professor Sprout. She teaches Herbology and she is the Head of the Hufflepuff house." Sprout was an adorable stout lady and she was wearing some kind of fur robes and she gave me a soft smile.

"Next to Sprout, is our Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin." So this was whom Dumbledore was talking about. A tall man with golden brown hair that looked like it had mind of its own. His eyes were brown as well and he had a scruff going on his jaw. His eyes were warm. He was really good looking.

"Hello." he said, his voice deep and throaty. I nodded in return.

"This is Madam Hooch, she is a Professor of Flying and the Quidditch coach. Quidditch is basically a game of football in air. Football is the game were they kick the ball around?" asked Dumbledore and I nodded. Hooch had impressive but scary eyes. She had yellow eyes with elongated pupils like a cat.

"Next to her is Professor Vector. She teaches Arthimancy. Basically using numbers to predict future outcomes." She was a lady with long black hair and wore red lipstick to match her red robes.

"And last and the least, the professor of Potions and Potions Master, Professor Snape. He is also the Head of Slytherin." First I saw was all black. Black hair, black eyes, and black robes. Only thing that I could see was his pale face. His black hair shone under the lighting of the office and he had slightly larger than average nose. His face was blank but you could see the intellect in them. He didn't comment or move his head to greet me, which I didn't mind.

"Well, these are your teachers. You will begin your classes tomorrow. Now come, we will sort you and you will be off with Professor Lupin." concluded Dumbledore and indicated me sit on the stool. I slowly walked to the stool, puzzled. There was an old, raggedy hat sitting on the stool.

Dumbledore froze in middle of his step. "Oh, dear. Brace yourself, professors. The Minister of Magic just entered through the gargoyle."

"What does he want?" asked McGonagall, worriedly.

"Do they know that you are going to adopt?" drawled out a bored voice. I glanced behind the McGonagall and saw Snape straightening out. His eyes flickered to me but I wasn't paying attention. The way he articulate the words is beyond amazing. "If they do, they fear that she will be another..." His eyes flickered to me then back at the Headmaster. "...someone we knew."

McGonagall gasped. "No. He wouldn't..."

The tension was making me antsy and scared. Who was this Minister of Magic? I will be another someone they knew? What does that mean? I glanced around and everyone looked tensed. I caught the eyes of Remus and he gave me a comforting smile.

As I was about to ask out loud, the door opened to reveal a white haired balding man wearing black robes with insignias stitched into them. Three other men stood behind them with their arms behind their back.

"Is what I heard true? That you are adopting an orphan?" the man asked fast, straight to the point.

"There are too many orphaned kids out there, Cornelius." said Dumbledore, innocently. Anger flashed through the man's eyes.

"Remember the last time you released a child from an orphanage? Look what happened."

They had to be speaking another language. I couldn't understand what is going on. Who are they talking about? Had Dumbledore adopted a kid long back? What's wrong with that?

"Not every kid in orphanages will turn out to be Dark Lords, Minister." McGonagall stated angrily, ruffled by the balding man.

"Dark Lord? Who is he? He sounds rather dramatic, don't you think?" I piped, bringing the whole room attention on me. "And you are making it sound that every orphan is a problematic child. So, who is it that you are comparing me to?"

"There was a wizard that I brought out of the orphanage, like you, several years back. As he grew up, his mindset became prejudicial and racist,saying that Purebloods are superior to mixed breeds. He started to dabble in Dark Arts and became really proficient with them. He called himself Lord Voldemort and his faithful servants called him the Dark Lord." summarised Dumbledore, his eyes sorrowful.

I nodded, in understanding. "That doesn't explain the fact that he was an evil kid when he was in the orphanage. He probably seemed dark because, I don't know, his parents were killed. That's what happens in an orphanage, Minister. Parent-less children are submitted there. Even if Dumbledore didn't adopt him, he would still cause havoc. "

"Well, that's where you are wrong. Voldemort killed his own parents before being situated at the orphanage." the Minister said, smirking like a cat. That stumped me. Okay, he had a point there. Dumbledore wouldn't just adopt a killer. He would have...

"I don't think Dumbledore would adopt a serial killer if he had known about it. You don't normally see kids killing their parents then register themselves to be in an orphanage. Dumbledore did the same thing to me as he did to Voldemort: showing us that we are not alone in this world." I explained, crossing my arms across my chest and glared at the insolent man.

"Ms. Everett, please refrain from talking about things you don't know. Right now, you are just beginner at learning magic so you have no room to show your hubris." hissed the Minister, sneering at me. I gasped at him, rearing away from the seething man.

"You sensitive, pompous-" I began but a loud cough from McGonagall stopped me.

"That is exactly why she should stay in this school and study the magic. She needs to know about her heritage and find out why she was kept in the dark about this. So, Minister, allow her to stay at Hogwarts." McGonagall said loudly, giving a quelling look at me that made me want to dig my grave. I looked down, ashamed. I wasn't helping my cause by acting smart.

The Minister was quiet, mulling at the request. He eyed me with annoyance in his eyes. I raised my eyebrows in response. If he is going to hinder me learning my heritage, he got another thing coming. The Minister stood straighter.

"In several conditions. She will be interrogated by professional Magical Law Enforcement officials whenever I please." ordered the Minister, causing all of us to sigh. "She will write reports of her weekly doings. I will appoint an Auror to be with her all times."

"Hold up! Why am I being treated like a criminal that killed more than twenty people?! Don't use your position of power to do just about anything, Minister!" I hissed then looked at Dumbledore and pleaded, " _Professor, please!_ "

Dumbledore was silent. Unadulterated form of anger swam in his blue eyes. "I hope this act doesn't reflect about your incompetency during Voldemort's reign, Minister. Don't punish the child for that."

The Minister glared at Dumbledore for that comment.

"Honestly, I will be fine by being interrogated or have one of the teachers write a report on me, but I don't want someone following me around!" I added, wringing my hands in worry. I ain't having anyone follow me like I am a criminal.

"What's all this about, Minister?" asked the drawling voice again. Snape walked closer to said man and gave him a blank look. "You are attacking a person with no knowledge of Magic and the history of it. What harm can she do, honestly? Whatever she does now is easily fixable but you want to put a guard on her like she is going to start havoc?"

The Minister looked stumped, almost ashamed the way he acted. Almost. "Okay. No guards but not-planned interrogation and weekly reports by her teachers are mandatory." he said and all of us nodded and a collective sigh could be heard all around the room. The Minister turned to Dumbledore. "I hope you know what you are doing. I hope we don't have another Harry Potter in our hands."

With that last statement, the Minister swept out of the room. After a few minutes of waiting silence, I slapped my thighs with my hands. "Well, that is well and over with but I have a question: who in their right mind appointed that...interesting choice of a man to be a Minister?"

"It didn't also help the fact that you were about to call him something horrible and fighting with him." McGonagall stated, slumping down a chair on the table. The twinkle of amusement came back in Dumbledore's eyes. Remus Lupin slumped his shoulders and gave me a soft smile.

"He was calling me a killer the last time I checked, Professor. I am not messing up what I have until I figure out who killed my parents and why. Hopefully, I don't need to kill someone." I said, tired from the journey and the fighting with the Douche. "Seriously, can you impeach Ministers?"

They all thought what I said was funny, especially Vector and except Snape and they laughed. I am really glad to be the entertainment tonight. "Now that everything is settled down, let continue with getting you situated. Please, sit on the stool, Claudia." said Dumbledore and I nodded.

As I settled on the stool, McGonagall picked up the tattered hat and I saw it came alive. The wrinkles towards the brim made smacking noises, as one does after yawning. McGonagall had said my name to the hat and the hat gave its permission to be used. I waited as still as I could, making eye contact with both Snape and Remus. One of them gave me an encouraging smile that made his brown eyes warmer. The other was stoic but simply nodded at me.

Just as the hat touched my pale blue hair, it screamed out, "SLYTHERIN!"

Oh, man. I heard McGonagall sigh in defeat beside me as she was about to remove the hat. "Wait, wait. Put me back on her. " the hat said and a confused Professor put it back on my head.

"Usually I would speak to you in your head but I am feeling oddly lazy today." said the hat from above me, causing me to giggle. "You are as pure as any Slytherin could get but your heart and mind is tinged with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Last time I had this feeling was with Hermione Granger."

"Hermione Granger?" I asked, confused. What a pretty name.

"Pure Gryffindor with a slight touch of Slytherin and Ravenclaw. I do hope you two become friends. It would definitely make this year memorable." mused the hat, then sighed softly. "Anyways, back on the subject...ah, I hope Ms. Granger is willing to share the throne of being the strongest witch at Hogwarts. You, Ms. Everett, have a huge deposit of Magic in you that would shame some men."

"Is that good?" I asked, hesitant.

"Oh, definitely good. Dumbledore, you got yourself another gem to polish. With that, I bid all adieu."

The hat became still and McGonagall removed the hat from my head. I glanced at Snape who nodded at me then at Remus. The soft smile still haven't fallen. I looked at Dumbledore. "What now?"

"Now, you are going to Diagon Alley with Lupin to get your things. This is my bank account and this is the list of things you need to get." informed Dumbledore, handing me two pieces of yellowed paper.

"Okay. Well, whenever Professor Lupin is ready, I am ready." I said, turning to look at the man with warm eyes. Lupin grinned and nodded.

"I am ready. We will be using the fireplace to go to Leaky Cauldron then we will go from there. After we are done with the shopping, we will be back for lunch and Professor Snape will show you the dormitory."

I nodded and he put his elbow out to take and slipped my hand through and held onto him. "Let's get going."


	6. Chapter Five

The trip to Leaky Cauldron via fireplace was something that I couldn't comprehend and the feeling of wanting to ride it again rose. I stumbled out of the fireplace as Lupin just walked out finely. There was some soot or dust from the fireplace on me and with a sharp sweeping motion, I removed them. I turned around to see a bar, no, a tavern with bar on the far side of the establishment. Lots of wizards were sitting around, drinking or reading by a newspaper or just bustling around about, laughing with their friends.

"Wow." I muttered as Lupin stood next to me. I could literally feel his amusement radiating out of his body. Some of the tavern goers greeted Remus and there were few who _sneered_ at him. Huh? Why are they looking at him like that? Some were even looking at me with confusion.

"If you think this is cool," started Remus, walking past the bar after nodding at the barman, "then you will find Diagon Alley breathtaking." I smiled at his excitement. Who couldn't, honestly? His lips were spread so wide that I feared his face will crack half way.

We came upon a brick wall. I looked around to find a door or a gate to lead to the Diagon Alley but couldn't find it. I was going to ask Remus but Remus removing his wand stumped me. He raised it up to the wall and tapped couple of bricks with it. For a second, nothing happened then with a sound sounding like rocks grinding against each other, the bricks started to move by themselves, folding into themselves that was nigh impossible.

"My head is nearly going to burst open, Professor." I commented, looking at the said man with amazement. After the bricks split to open to reveal brick paved road with barely anyone traversing on it. "I came after the school year started, yeah?"

"You are correct, Ms. Everett. However, not to worry. You are a bright pupil who will surpass her peers. Now, want to buy your books first or get a wand?"

"Don't we need to grab some money?" I asked, confused. Lupin shook his head, waving at a passerby.

"If we had to carry money around, it would be in big bags because the money system in the magical world is coins. So, what we do is that when we grab certain things from the store, we tell the store owner to charge it the bank himself." explained Remus and I made a noise understanding.

"And Dumbledore being a powerful man…" I trailed of and Remus nodded. _Imagine that!_ I thought what I wanted first. "Let's get the wand first and leave the shopping for books at the last. It would take time. Yeah?"

"Whatever you want, Claudia. This way to Ollivanders." Remus said, then walked straight ahead. As I followed him, trying to be mindful that I don't bump into him, I gazed at the stores that I only read in fairy tales. The more I see, the more I get confused and the more frustrated I get. I could have had this- _all of this!_ -from the day I was born but...someone hunted down my parents as if they were just animals.

 _Would my parents' killers belong to Slytherin? If so, if I were to ask around, would I find answers or would I be… "taken care of"_?

Professor Lupin and I stood in front of a store made out of dark wood. I couldn't look into the store through the glass because of how cluttered it was. The professor opened the door and held it open for me. I muttered a thanks and I walked inside. It was dusty inside. I could see dust particles streaming through small, circular windows on top of the walls. Elongated boxes were stacked upon themselves and they were everywhere, covering every inches of the space. Because of this much clutter, the lights have been blocked out and only few lines of the light streamed in.

"Yes? How may I help you?" a voice asked from behind me. I turned around to see a fairly old man behind a desk, sitting and looking expectantly at us. He recognized Remus. "Ah, Remus, it's been a while that you stepped foot in this shop."

"Ah, yes, I was only a first year in Hogwarts, Ollivander. In this case is a bit different, sir. This is Claudia Everett, a seventeen year old just found out that she is a witch. We are in dire need getting her a wand." replied Lupin and I felt his fingers brush my lower back lightly then his fingers were gone.

I smiled at Ollivander, shly. The man has such wise eyes that it made me uncomfortable to look at him. He kept on scrutinizing me despite making me uncomfortable. After few minutes of being studied, he made a noise at the back of his throat. "I will be right back." Ollivander went to a ladder, stepped on the ladder and the ladder zoomed out of view, taking the wand maker deeper into the store.

I turned to look at Professor who in return gave me an amused smile. "I was so confused!" I blurted out and he just chuckled, his brown eyes flashing with mirth. "You are having too much fun." I turned around and I heard him burst out a chuckle.

"I am sorry." he said, after he got himself back together. I simply shook my head. The sound of the ladder coming back sobered us both back. Ollivander climbed down the stairs with several, skinny boxes in his arms.

"Here we go. This is nine-inch birkwood with unicorn hair imbedded in. Just take a swish and it will tell you if you are it's rightful master." Ollivander said, giving me light in color wooden wand. I grabbed it firmly and faced away from the two people. I gave it a swish like it said and I felt tinglings on my fingers, causing the wand let out explosions. I squeaked as I threw the wand away in fright. "I guess not. Try this one."

That one exploded as well. He gave me another one: a heavy dark wood with unicorn hair.

Another explosion. Couple of tries with different types of wand resulted the same. Maybe, I wasn't meant to be a witch and that thought saddened me. Ollivander looked confused. He never seemed to have problem after second try with his customers. I watch him think more then he brightened up.

"For some reason, I thought you would be compatible with unicorn hair but now, I don't think so! I will be right back. If the one I am thinking off is not yours, I swear to Merlin himself.." Ollivander muttered as he zoomed away on his ladder.

"We should have bought the books first!" I said, staring at Lupin.

"It is awfully confusing that it's taking this long for you to get a wand. He gets it on the second try." Remus explained, confused. "It's not your fault. It just means that your magic is very potent and slightly different than your average witch or wizard."

I made a sound of believing when Ollivander zoomed back. "Here you go; try this one. It's 10 ½ cypress wood with Dragon Heartstring."

I took a deep breath and grabbed the wand. It felt right. The weight was good, the finishing of the wood was smooth but that wasn't it. Something inside me clicked into place when I touched this wand. Being expectant for this wand, I gave it a swish. Fingers tingling, the wand shot out beautiful sparks.

"Yes!" I heard Ollivander say but I was paying attention to the sparks that turned into soft glow, like auroras of the North Pole. "It seems that several people share your core, Miss. Claudia. Myself, Hermione Granger, Lockhart, sadly Belatrix Lestrange."

"Hermione Granger has the same core as mine?" I asked, catching the name. Ollivander nodded. Hmm, maybe, I have to befriend this Hermione Granger.

"Now that I think about it, Miss. Granger also took this long to find a wand."

 _I am having a lot in common with this Granger character._

As I was mulling things about Granger, Remus has already paid for the wand. He walked out of the store and I bid a hearty farewell. "So, what next?"

"Robes?"

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I had bought a satchel as well and Lupin casted a charm on it that I could stuff as much as I want to and still weigh nothing. I had already grabbed my robes, potion things and books and extra books that Lupin recommended for DADA. It took two hours in total because of there being no other kids around.

"Finally, you need a pet. You can have a cat, a rat or toad, or an owl. Let's go to the store where they sell them."

He had already had me on a cat. "The way you select them is how you feel connected to them." Remus continued as he stopped in front of a store with owls in their cages.

A cat better choose me.

I walked in and went immediately to spot where there were cats. As I looked around the feline section, I saw the shopkeeper eyeing Remus warily. Hmm, I have been seeing this reaction for a while.

Before I could ask anything, a deep throaty meow caught my attention, all the way in the back. I saw the King Cat of all cats, sitting on its hind legs, staring at me with its wide, teal-green eyes. It's fur was pure black, shown almost purple under the lights. It was sleek and his paws powerful and let's not ignore the fact at how tall it was. It was height of a medium dog.

It meowed again, making eye contact with me. Just like my wand, I felt something click into place within me. "Professor, that's the one for me." I pointed at the King.

"You sure?" He asked from behind me.

"Yeah, I feel a strong bond with it." I asked and I told the shopkeeper that this the cat we want.

"Finally, he chose someone as his master. He has been here for two years and he didn't seem sad that no one is choosing him. He doesn't like to be in a cage so he will walk alongside with you. He has no problem with apparition." Said the store owner as she did the purchase.

The cat jumped down from its post gracefully and slinked his way towards me. He sniffed my hand couple of times then rubbed his head against it. He did the same thing with Lupin and rubbed against him. The store owner and Lupin were shocked.

We got out of the shop with Lord Alastair trailing behind us. Lord Alastair is a great name for such a beautiful species.

"Hey, Professor, I have a personal question for you." I asked, suddenly feeling afraid of what I am about to ask. Lord Alastair purred loudly against my hand.

"What is it, Claudia?" asked Remus, concerned.

"I have noticed how people look at you. Why?" I asked and suddenly, right there and then, I wished I hadn't uttered a single word. He froze, his brown eyes was blank for few seconds then anger and sorrow swam in it. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't like how they looked at you, that's why! I was seriously considering about beating them up."

Lupin laughed at that but the pain was still in his eyes. "I am a werewolf, Claudia."

My eyes widened in surprised. "Like, like humans turning into wolves? In full moon werewolves?"

"Yes."

"Were you born with it or was it inflicted on you?" I asked, curiosity.

"Inflicted. It happened before I got into Hogwarts as a kid. I thought they wouldn't let a monster like me in but Dumbledore being Dumbledore let me enter and kept my disease a secret. Only McGonagall knew and my three best friends...well, all former now." answered Lupin, sitting on the wooden bench that was outside a potion's store. I sat next to him, Lord Alastair sitting in between us.

"And you don't think you deserve their kindness." It was a statement and he looked at me, shocked. "Which is dumb, by the way. Despite what's going on with you, Dumbledore thought you were strong enough to be around kids and be a Professor. He believes you are a strong enough to lead."

"Harry told me the same thing." Lupin muttered and I gave him a confused look. "My bestfriend's son. He is good friend with Hermione Granger." I nodded, thoughtful. "Harry said the same thing as you said and...how people looked at me always bothered me."

"Of course. If people gave me that look, it would have bothered me to. What happened to you was horrible, but Professor, it already happened. I know I don't know you but I got the feeling that you have been beating yourself over it. Stop. Use it for your own advantage."

"You found out that about being a witch several hours ago and you are telling me how to live with it?" Remus asked with a slight growl towards the end then suddenly looked stricken. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to snap."

"You mean growl?" I asked, giggling. Remus stared at me. "Sorry." He simply shook his head at me. "I know it's not my pace but I have been in your situation where people stare at me cruelly. And I am not inflicted with such a bad curse... but I moved past the hatred. I didn't ask any of this to happen but I can't keep moping about it. I will try to do something to get rid of the thoughts of how evil I am. It's not my fault that those pipelines blew!" I paused for bit then looked down guilty. "All right, technically, it was my fault but I didn't know I was a witch!"

Remus chuckled. It was quiet for a while and we just sat and gazed around. "It's difficult but I will try to accept my wolf. I always wanted to but the thought of just being free….what if I hurt someone?"

"Have you ever hurt anybody before?" I asked, tentatively, didn't want to bring any bad memories up.

"Well, I almost did." he muttered.

"No, that's not my question. Have you hurt anybody?" I repeated, shaking my head. He looked at me, thoughtfully.

"No. Not yet, at least."

"If you did hurt somebody, would Dumbledore hire you? If he thought you were a danger to the students, would he have hired you? No, right? He trusts you to be surrounded with defenseless kids because he believes in you, Professor. It's time you believe in yourself. It's not something you can do in a day. It's a slow process. There will be times that you would relapse into thinking bad thoughts about yourself and that's normal. The only difference is that you have the strength to do it." I said, then fell quiet for a second. I knew it was not my place to say all of this. Hell, I barely know this guy. Hell, I am not a werewolf. He must have gone through so much bigotry and hate from the magical society...do I really have the right and jump in with my two cents?

I sighed. "I am sorry. I barely know you and I am trying to tell you what to do. It's not my place. What you went through and what you had to go through every single day...I can't compare that to my experience. I am just putting my nose into something that is not my business. That's my curse, honestly." I gave him a sad smile, hoping he would forgive me. Sir Alastair placed his huge head on my thigh as if sensing my distress.

"It shows how much you care, Claudia. Yes, our wounds are way different than each other, but we know what pain really is. You were just trying to help me out and I am really appreciative of that. And you are right; I won't be able to accept the wolf in me in a day but it will be a slow process. Harry wanted me to do same thing. I am surprised you are in Slytherin when you have such a big heart." remarked Lupin, petting the sleek coat of my cat.

Just hearing the word 'Slytherin' made me groan. "I don't know how to feel about Slytherin."

"It's a great house, believe me. It's filled with intelligent students but they have been raised to believe that Purebloods are better and superior. It's better now, because of the Great War being finally over." Remus soothed, noticing my worry. "Maybe, you guys are Purebloods and they won't attack you."

I shook my head, troubled."Pureblood or not, I don't want to be associated with racists." I negated. "Even if I was Pureblood, I am basically a Muggle. Hell, I thought I was a Muggle all this time until today! I don't know anything about magic and I fear I will start at the lower level with all the eleven year olds. I know exactly how to drive a car in reverse. I can paint a mural without a reference. I can write a book about…" I stopped myself short. _Let's not go there._ "...ignore that. I know how to make a mean Souffle! But I don't know a levitation spell. So basic that Dumbledore didn't even have to utter anything!"

"If the hat was right, and it's is always right, you will absorb knowledge faster than an average student. You will learn magic in no time. You will have you friends next to you."

"Friends?" I scoffed at that idea. Remus gave me a raised eyebrow. "Who wants to be a friends with an orphan?"

"If Voldemort can have friends, so can you." Remus said, his voice light enough to know he was joking.

"Great, even the Dark Lord have more friends than I do!" I laughed that at that which caused him to chuckle. I got up slowly, lifting my familiar's head off my head softly. "If we have everything, let's go? I feel like Professor Snape isn't a patient man."

His face brightened up as if remembering that there was a reason that he took me out shopping. "Yeah, lets. He can turn... _batty_...if we were too late." Remus added, snickering towards the end. I squinted at him then figured it was an inside joke. Remus put his arm out and I looped my arm through.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I ever be."

 **I finally updated! Yeah!**


	7. Chapter Six

After few more minutes, we got in front of a huge door with lots of other kids Lord Alastair kept a close eye on Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix. I kept a close eye on Lord Alastair. Any indication that my familiar was alive was the twitching of his tail. Dumbledore kept a close eye on me.

"I hope everything was fun and not hard on you." Dumbledore said, but I had a feeling that he already knew what happened.

"It was fun, despite the problems with wand. I didn't know that when you said about my uniform being tailored that I would receive it after ten minutes of shopping. It would take at least a day in Muggle world." I wondered out, impressed.

"It's magic." drawled Snape and I turn around to give him a 'no-shit sherlock' face. He smirked in return. "If you are done being amazed by magic, want to get settled in Slytherin before dinner?"

"Yeah, I am ready whenever you are. What about my purchases?" I asked, looking at the bundles of books, couple of robes, potion necessities, rolls of parchments, boxes of inkwells and quills.

"The elves will take care of it. By the time you reach your dorm, you will already see it there." said Remus and I nodded. I smiled at Dumbledore who just gave me a nod, a twinkle in his eyes. I looked at Snape.

"After you, sir." Snape didn't acknowledge but he blew through the room with snap of his robe. Wow, how cool is he! I hurried after him, giving a wave to the remaining teachers, Lord Alastair trotting after me, giving out a yowl.

To believe that Snape would slow down and let me take in the view of the castle was really foolish. I had to do a mini run to keep up with the long legs of the Potions Master. He knew I was struggling because he was smirking.

"You don't use magic in Potions, yeah?" I asked, slightly breathless. Last time I exercises was when I power walked really fast to a gas station to buy Pepsi.

The Potion Master slowed down a bit- _a bit_ \- and nodded. "You use it only little a potion is either you make it or break it. One wrong ingredient can mess a potion up. Even if it's the ingredient that the recipe calls for, the preparation of that ingredient is important."

"That's amazing. I know it doesn't pertain to cooking at all, but it's kind of similar, isn't it?" I asked and he looked pained while he nodded. "I can't wait to try it out. If I am not good at magic, I can be good at Potions."

"What makes you think that you won't be good at magic? Because you didn't know about it until few hours ago?" he asked and I was silent in return. He took the 'yes' out of the silence and clicked his tongue.

"The brain is a sponge, Claudia. I am sure the Muggle teachers, also, taught you that. The brain will keep on learning and it will keep on implementing the lessons on your everyday life. I am sure you will grab the concept of magic really fast." Snape answered. He wasn't looking at me but I beamed at him. "Stop smiling like that. You look like a horse."

I guffawed really loudly at that which startled the professor. "You can't give out advices without an insult, now can you?" I said, giggling. He stared at me as if I had smoked something then ignored me. Didn't stop me from giggling, though.

We got deeper into Hogwarts, no longer surrounded by windows but lit lanterns flickered and illuminated the hallway with yellow light. Alastair sniffed the ground ahead of us, his ears high up. I noticed the slight drop of the temperature.

 _Just like out of the movies...this would be the villains home…_ I should not think things like that about my new home. But were the killer of my parents raised in this house…? Maybe, the Slytherins would know something about it. I probably have to gain their trust. We descended down the stairs just to stop in front of a oil-based painting of a man with long black hair, prominent cheeks, eyes closed with his dark eyelashes contrasting against his really pale skin; in other words, really hot. He had his eyes closed.

The handsome painted main snapped his eyes open, revealing startling green eyes. I squeaked in surprise as the man in the _painting_ crossed his legs over his knee.

"New student?" said that man in the _painting_. His voice was gravely and deep Snape nodded in response. "Doesn't look like Slytherin material but what do I know about the heart's appeal? Listen here, Miss.?"

"Claudia Everett."

The man's eyes widened in surprise. "Miss. Everett? You are the daughter of Julie and Ambrose Everett?" He asked and I gasped. Someone actually knew my parents!

"Yes! Did you know them?"

"Yes, but we will talk later but I know that they were the finest of the Purebloods, being on par with the Malfoys and the Blacks. Only between you and me but if you want to have someone with you, then you can. You will know me as Adler. The password to lead into the dorm is: _familia castitate_. Family of Purity." said the man and I nodded, not liking the password at all. Well, I guess, if I was born 'normally' like the kids here, I would have loved that password.

The painting swung outward, revealing a stoned pathway. Snape walked in without a thank you. I muttered my thanks and walked in. I followed the Potions Master in to reveal an expansive room. I stared at the room, with open mouth. On the ceiling, well half of the ceiling, was made of glass and there was water above, giving the whole room a bright green feel to it. There were green carpets covering the stone floor with dark green crouches. There were silver curtains and pillows and there was a fireplace lit.

There were lots of students in their robes milling about the common room (I think), but all of them stopped what they were doing and stared at me.

"Slytherins, you have a new member of this house. This is Claudia Everett. She just found out that she was a witch. Dumbledore had found her a Muggle orphanage. Unfortunately, someone had brutally murdered her parents."

"Why don't you also tell them what underwear I am wearing." I muttered under my breath, kind of irked. They don't need to know that. I will tell them if I want them to know or not. I resisted the urge to kick Snape on his calf.

"She's new to magic, so help her out." said Snape and he turned around to me. "I might have said that, but Slytherins are known for self-preservation, so you probably have to learn by yourself. This house is dignified with honor and respect, but helping others is not it's forte. That's Gryffindor and the other houses are there for that. If you are into House Unity, you can ask them." I nodded, listening with rapt attention. "You will be sharing your room with Pansy and Millicent. They will show you."

I nodded. Snape turned back around to face the common room. "Any questions?" There was none. "Very well. I am heading to the Great Hall. It's time for lunch. Come along, Everett." I followed Snape, after giving out hesitant smiles.

"That was intense." I muttered as we walked out of the dormitory. I turned around to see green-tied students following, leading by a tall, lean muscled boy with platinum blond hair and strong but feline's bones. He had a smirk on his pale pink lips as he eyed me. A girl with short, bob haircut sneered at me when she caught me staring at her.

I turned around and sighed. "Seems like I am in pit of hungry snakes."

"You are. You will have to be extra vigilant on what you say and how you act with them." agreed Snape as we got back on higher level of the castles. There were lots of kids streaming around now, heading towards the same directions that we were. They parted for Snape like the Red Sea and Snape was Moses. There were lots of blue ties on the wandering kids, probably their dorm was near the Slytherins?

from Houses milling around it. Some eyed me, curiously then whispered to their friends. The door magically opened and students rushed in, already forgetting about the strange girl with strange hair-me.

"This," Snape started, going to further most long table that had Slytherins flags over it, "is the Slytherins table, obviously. Right next to it is the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw." He pointed at the tables respectively. He pointed at the long table with a throne at the front of the Great Hall. "That's where the teachers sit and the Headmaster."

A yowl rang out from beside me. I looked down in surprise to see Lord Alastair looking up at me. Snape noticed him, too, but didn't comment on it. "If you are in need of help, you have your fellow Housemates to ask." With that, he walked briskly towards the Teachers table. I stood there awkwardly as my housemates walked past me and sat wherever they pleased on their table. There was an empty spot next to a gorgeous dark skinned boy with a smirk on his face. He realized it too and beckoned me over to sit with him. I did with some hesitancy.

"The new girl!" announced the beautiful boy. I laughed a humorless laugh.

"That's me!" I said, sarcastically. My familiar climbed on the seat next to me.

"She speaks! I am Blaise Zabini at your service." he said with a flourish of his hand. He pointed at the blond boy who looked like was struggling against the girl with a bob cut. "That's Draco Malfoy. Beside him is his on and off fling Pansy Parkinson."

Pansy glowered at him in response and Draco nodded in greeting. My eyes widened at the mention of Malfoy. "The guy in the painting that leads to your dorm...Adler?...he mentioned that my family was Pureblood and were on par with the Malfoys. Do you know anything about the Everetts?" I asked, curiously. Draco cocked his head to the side and thought about it.

"I have no information about your parents but my father might. I will him owl him later tonight." Draco finally said. It was a slight letdown but maybe Draco's dad would know them. "So, a _Muggle_ orphanage huh?"

"So you were like a Muggle, huh?" said the nasally voice of Pansy, looking at me with a smug smile.

"Obviously I am not a Muggle." I said, confused. Pansy's smug smile fell off.

"I didn't mean that! You were pretty much a muggle because you didn't know about magic." she corrected herself fast.

"If I was only a Muggle, I wouldn't have made the pipes in orphanage explode because of my anger, now would I?" Pansy was silent; her insult that she was planning on was ruined. "I just knew that something was off about me. I thought I was a monster and it was really weird that my parents never looked surprised whenever it happens in front of them. They just...glaze over it."

I sighed. "I don't even know why my parents hid their magic or why they were hunted like animals. They were Purebloods, right? It isn't the Dark Lord, right? He is dead, right? That's what Dumbledore said." I asked, mostly to myself. I saw most of their eyes tighten at the words 'Dark Lord' but I didn't want to ask them.

"It couldn't be the leftover Death Eaters," mused Pansy, "they will only try to harm half-bloods and Muggle-borns. They wouldn't dare kill a pureblood family, let alone a pureblood family that was closely tied with the Malfoys. If anything, the Dark Lord would try to recruit them." My eyes widened in surprise.

"What if that's the reason they ran? They just didn't want to join and I am guess that his Dark Lord Asshole wasn't the type to take the answer no and accept it so they ran to hide. If they were to use magic, it could be traced, right? Could magic be even traced?" I asked really fast, my eyes swivelling to Blaise, to Draco, then to Pansy and repeat.

"Yes, definitely." Blaise agreed. "But only way it to be traced is you have to go the Ministry."

"Yeah, but He had people work for him in the Ministry as well. Imperiused or not, he could have 'workers' find them easily." Draco piped, his eyebrows furrowed like he was in pain. Maybe, it wasn't the right time to siphon information out. Not yet, anyways.

"Anyways, this is the main question." All three of them looked at me, expectantly. "Where exactly is the food?"

Pansy giggled at that while Blaise laughed. Draco just smirked. "I know it's funny but it was five hours ago that I found out that I was a witch, and I had to fight with Minister to allow me to be in this school, had to go through at least fifteen wands to find mine. The whole process made me hungry." I said, looking at the empty plates and bowls.

There was clapping noise from the Head table and food magically appeared in front us. "Wow." I muttered as I eyed the mash potatoes that was so white and my stomach gurgled in hunger. I waited for everyone to dig in before I reached for the potatoes. Pansy indicated at the chicken with a smile. I grabbed some of that too and a bread roll. I dug in, appreciating the tender chicken that was slathered in some kind of garlic sauce.

"Pass me the bread rolls, Everett, will you?" Malfoy asked and I nodded. I grabbed the basket and held it to Draco. He grabbed two then thanked me. I held it out to Blaise who grabbed one and then to Pansy who refused. As I placed the basket down, a fat kid pushed his shoulder on me.

He had a sneer on his rounded face. "Yes?" I asked, confused.

"So, you watched your parents die, huh?" He asked, there was no lick of remorse in his voice. "Did you scream ' _mommy! Daddy!_ '-" his voice squealed like a pig, "-as you watched? You couldn't do anything because you were pretty much a weak muggle." He laughed as another pudgy man slapped his arm as if he told a great joke.

My grip on my fork tightened as I saw red. "I may not know magic as of yet, asshole, but I will smash your skull in on this table if you utter another bad thing about what happened!" I seethed. I felt my hair float with a crackle of electricity that ran amok in my veins. I felt the same tingling sensation I felt earlier in my fingers. I saw flicker of fear in his eyes.

"Ignore them, Claudia." I heard Pansy say. "They aren't worth it. What happened to you...I wouldn't ever wish it on someone I even hated."

"Fuck off, Crabbe. You, too, Goyle. Even a newbie like Claudia can take you on. I have heard that a weakling like Longbottom defeated both your parents in a duel at the Final Battle. What better can you both do?" Draco said in his calm voice. Crabbe and Goyle both got red in their face and I felt smug about it.

"Next time you even breath in my space, I will show you how 'weak' I am, got it? I am enjoying this food and I am in no mood to injure you." I made my voice really low.

"You are just scared!" Crabbe yelled out, trying to defend his bruised ego.

"I don't see you doing anything about it." I said, smirking. Lord Alastair hissed loudly, so loudly at the two assholes that several people at the Gryffindor table looked our way. Crabbe and Goyle just stalked off, grumbling to themselves.

"You are so Slytherin." Blaise eventually said and that made the three of us laugh. There were probably people I would have to look out for in Slytherin but for now, Draco, Pansy and Blaise were alright with me.

"I wonder how your schedule is going to be like." Pansy mused out loud. "Would it be same like us or different because you don't know the basics of magic yet?"

I got worried. "Yeah, I wonder too." I would be the only one behind...

"Let's teach you magic now." Draco suggested and I looked up in surprise. He raised his eyebrow and I nodded, excitedly. He removed his wand and I copied his movement. He grabbed a napkin and put in front of me. "Spells are a lot about correct pronunciation and the movement of the wrist. Before we try anything, say _wingardium leviosa."_

I heard the way he said it and " _Wingardium leviosa."_ I said slowly and Draco smiled.

"Perfect. Now, without the wand, do this hand motion." He made a hand motion that ended with a flick. I copied it and to find it that it...was easy. As if my body knew what it was doing. "Now, take your wand, point it at the napkin, say the spell while you move your hand."

I picked my wand up, feeling the tingling feeling on the tip of my finger, and pointed at the napkin. With the movement of the hand I just learned, I uttered, " _Wingardium leviosa_." I felt a rush of magic run through my veins (oh, how wonderful that felt!) and I saw in amazement as the napkin levitated off the table.

Blaise hooted as he started to clap. I giggled as I watched the napkin float. Pansy laughed as she, too, began clapping. "On her first try, huh? Good job!" Draco said. I lost my concentration and the napkin fell.

"I did it!"

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"It's middle of the day but let me show you our room so you can get situated." Pansy said as we walked across the threshold of our dormitory. I was still hyped about the magic I did and I nodded excitedly at her. We said our goodbyes to the boys and climbed the stairs that led to the girls dormitories.

"Here we are. Your bed is alway at the end of the room." She pointed at the beautiful queen size bed with dark green covers and silver pillows. Lord Alastair jumped on my bed and laid down, watching me with his beautiful teal eyes. I walked to my dresser and opened it to reveal all my clothes arranged. Same with my study desk, my books properly stacked, rolls of parchment and inkwells were arranged meticulously. There were no windows but the whole room was lit magically. The atmosphere was slightly cool but I rather prefer the cold than the heat.

"Hey." Pansy said, with a hint of hesitation in her voice. I turned around to look at her, and waited expectantly. "Sorry about earlier. When I was rude." She was flustered so I assumed that she doesn't say sorry often.

I gave her big smile. "It's all cool! Thank you for defending me during the whole Crabbe ordeal."

She just blushed. "Today must be tiring day, yeah?"

"Tell me about it. I can finally find out who killed my parents and why." I said, sitting on my bed. Pansy pranced on a bed, assuming that it's hers, and gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Treat Hogwarts as your home. We all do, even though none of will admit out loud." she said, and sighed sadly. "Most of our parents sided with the Dark Lord, thinking supporting him will gain us power and wealth. They wrapped our heads in thinking about pureblood supremacy to the point of us thinking that it wasn't right for the Muggleborns to have magic when their parents didn't."

"You don't have to talk about it, Pansy." I said, softly, looking at how pained Pansy looked.

"No, I have to. You need to know. You are part of this world now and you can't be in total dark about this." she said, and I stayed quiet. She took in a deep breath. "My parents were Death Eaters, they expected, no, _knew_ I was to be a Death Eater when I come to age. To them, being a Death Eater was the big deal.

I thought I had it bad. But Draco, he got it worse. The Dark Lord stayed at their Manor, siphoning money out of their banks for his cause. During our fifth year, Draco's dad went to jail for working with the Dark Lord and to make the Malfoy family pay for his Draco's dad's failures, the Dark Lord assigned Draco to do the unthinkable deed to save his whole family from dying." Pansy shudders at this. "Draco's mission was to find a way to bring the Death Eaters into Hogwarts _and_ kill Dumbledore."

"No!" I gasped in horror. How can a man make a child do this? Because of his father's sins?

"For some reason, Dumbledore knew about the mission. He somehow convinced Draco that killing him won't save his mother's life but just prolong it till the Dark Lord will order another impossible mission Draco to do. I don't know Dumbledore did it but rumor has it that Snape made a potion that could stop the heart for one hour and Dumbledore drank it. Draco just had to be in position with Dumbledore's 'dead' body and every Death Eater that was there were convinced that Dumbledore was dead. Of course, Snape had to alter Draco's mind so he can fool the Dark Lord."

"Was Snape…?"

"A double agent? Yeah. I don't know how he did it. He was the right hand man for both Dumbledore and the Dark Lord. I am surprised he is still sane. As I was saying, two years back, the Final Battle happened. The Golden trio as we call them, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, found a way to weak the Dark Lord but it was suppose to be only Harry that has to kill the Dark Lord."

"And he did." I said, with a finality.

"Yeah, he did. We lost lots of people. Ron's brother, Fred Weasley, died. Draco's mom were the few. Narcissa, Draco's mom, had lied to the Dark Lord about the fake death of Harry to find out where Draco was and the Dark Lord found out. He killed her right in front of Draco and his dad. I think it was way before that when Draco and his dad realized about the lunacy of the man they were following. But once you are in the grasp of the Dark Lord, you can't ever escape." Pansy became quiet for a while afterwards.

"Then it dawned on us. A Muggleborn, a Half-blood, and a Blood Traitor defeated the voice of Pureblood propaganda with his own creation. And to find that the Dark Lord was actually a half-blood put the cherry on top. Okay, so yeah, he was the heir of Slytherin but to speak about blood purity while you weren't a pureblood was just...there isn't a word for it."

"You guys felt betrayed, or at least you did." I piped in. She nodded.

"Draco just wouldn't- _couldn't_ \- utter the word 'mudblood' anymore. It brought back bad memories. It took him two years to come to terms with his dad. This house is not a bad house, Claudia. It doesn't breed evil. It's just that some cunning people are evil." Pany said, looking utterly exhausted. "Well, there is that."

"I know it was hard for you to say all of this but I am grateful that you did. It's better to know things, no matter how bad it is, to be aware of it." I said, and I got off the bed. I grabbed her hands and she looked up at me with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Clean up and let's hang out at the dorm. What happened has happened. We must learn from it and try to not let another asshole sing about purity again. Now we know what happens and we can stop it. This is your last year and my, well, I don't know, but let's not start our term in tears, yeah? I heard somewhere that it was bad luck…"

"Where did you hear that?" she asked, wiping away the tears. I paused and gave her sheepish smile.

"I made it up."


	8. Chapter Seven

The next morning was a hectic. I groaned as I heard the curtain that separated the beds spring open. I felt someone slap my thigh and told me to wake up; that it was the first day of the term. Hearing that made me snap my eyes open and catapult out of my bed. Pansy was still in her undergarment, lace and burgundy, applying perfume behind her ears, wrist, and middle of her cleavage. Millicent was nowhere to be found.

"Go take a shower. I will take out your uniform." Ordered Pansy and I didn't bother refuting it. I hurriedly grabbed my black undergarments and rushed to the attached bathroom. As the rooms were magnificent, so were the bathrooms. Black marble counter with (real?) jade sinks and the bathtub was huge that could hold at least three people.

I didn't do my routine of slowly washing and enjoying the heated water but I rushed through, giving thanks to God that my hair wasn't curly. I got out, lathered up my body with lotion and slipped into my undergarments. I brushed my teeth with a paste that smelled like eucalyptus leaves and left the my mouth feeling tingling and clean. I rushed out of the bathroom to see my uniform on my bed. It looked crisp and fresh. I wore the uniform and went back to bathroom. I did my usual makeup routine, a primer, foundation, eyeliner and a nude lipstick.

It took a few seconds on what I wanted to do with my hair. After pulling my hair into a high ponytail (I just realized that I need to dye my hair again), I grabbed my satchel with all my books, parchments and ink well, having a Permanent Extension charm on my bag. I looked up and realized that Pansy wasn't in the room. I got out of our shared room and ran downstairs to see if she was there.

No one was in the common room. How late was I!? I ran out of the dorm, saying my greetings to Adler, and ran towards the Great Hall. Before entering the Great Hall, I stopped and calmed myself down. By the noise in the hall, everyone seems to be enjoying the breakfast. I entered the hall after I regained some normalcy and walked towards my table. I saw Pansy, Draco and Blaise smirk at me as I came closer.

"You had to wake me up at the last minute, huh?" I mumbled, grabbing some pancakes and maple syrup. Pansy let out a giggle, not able to hold it in. "I never realized how funny I was."

"You are not as mad as we thought you be. This is a tradition that has been going on since we have joined the school." noted Draco and I gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Your tradition is welcoming a new student with open arms then abandon them the next day? Very spectacular tradition, I say." I said, falsely impressed.

"The way of Slytherin is think for yourself then think about someone else. This tradition teaches them that not to rely on someone else for things that you can do." Draco explained, sipping orange juice. I made a noise of understanding. "Teamwork is great and all, but if one of the team members mess up, he or she will bring the whole group down. That's when our Slytherin beliefs kick in. I come first, then they do."

"It sounds barbaric, according to the Gryffindors, but it's not. It's survival." Pansy chimed in. "Gryffindors wear their heart on their sleeves and we don't. We Slytherins look out for each other but asking help from other houses is the last resort. Desperate times calls for desperate measures as the Muggles say."

"Understandable." I said, thoroughly convinced. I scooped some hash browns on my plate. "Is that why you are in a house wars with the rest of the Houses?"

"Yeah and the because of the war." Blaise said when the other two fell silent. I nodded, dropping the subject. Pansy struggled by explaining about the madman so I wouldn't ask Draco about his two cents.

I decided to change the subject. "How do I know which classes I am in?" Pansy brightened up at that and was that a grateful look in Draco's eyes?

"We will be handed out time tables after breakfast." Pansy said, drinking an orange colored juice but something was telling me that it wasn't orange juice. She noticed my confused look and told me it was pumpkin juice.

Anything with pumpkin is my salvation so I filled the glass with it. And sighed in satisfaction as I drank it. As we continued to eat breakfast, a strum of excitement went down my spine. First day of school...I was never excited for the first day of school or school itself but being in a place that finally clicked with you was more pleasing than ever. Yes I was in middle of snake pit but was I also not a snake? The Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes.

All around the world, the snake always have a negative connotation. In religious aspect, it was the devil in form of snake that told Eve to bite the forbidden Apple. Thus the negative response, at least to Muggles. Over here, in the wizarding world, it was Voldy-Toty that gave Slytherin a bad name or the Founder himself. How does one remove the deep stain left by the shithead? Try to become friends with other houses!

I wasn't going to say anything to these guys. I am going to slowly pull them in. Like the saying goes: throw a frog in boiling water, it will jump out; however, put a frog in a lukewarm water then slowly bring it to a boil, it wouldn't know what was going on until it was too late.

Barbaric comparison, yes, but I am a snake. We eat frogs for breakfast.

I felt someone behind me and it pulled me out of my musing. I turned around to see it was Professor Snape, holding stack of rectangular parchment paper. "How was your first night as a Slytherin?" he asked, his voice drawling out of the words.

"Enlightening, Professor. Are those the time tables?" I asked, pointing at the yellowed paper. A flicker of pride flashed through Snape's eyes then they were blank again. He nodded, then went to flick through the stack, grabbed one and handed it to me. "Hopefully, one of these miscreants would stay back and show you the way." He eyed the other three with a sharp eye then proceeded to hand their time tables.

"Today, you have double Herbology with Gryffindors that lasts two hours. After that, an hour of Divination with Ravenclaws. Lunch. You final class is Double DADA with Gryffindors."

Before I could respond, the noise of a glass tinkling attracted my attention. Dumbledore was standing behind his eagle-statute podium, holding a wine glass. In few seconds, the Great Hall was silent, all of the students watching the headmaster. My eyes traveled to the teacher's table, and scanned it. Remus was sitting on the right of McGonagall and Snape was sitting on her left. Remus was looking at the headmaster while Snape looked down at his plate, looking bored. I stifled my giggle at that.

"Welcome back students of Hogwarts and those of who are here for the first time, Welcome!" said Dumbledore, his voice unusually loud. Probably a charm. A thunderous clap rang through. "Now, the Sorting has happened couple days back so for this new student that we received yesterday, we already Sorted her out."

 _Oh no_. Dumbledore, _you better not mention my dead parents_.

"It is not my place to explain why she joined Hogwarts this late. However, please welcome, Claudia Everett! She has been Sorted into Slytherin and the only one with blue hair." Dumbledore introduced and everyone in the Hall turned to look at me. I blushed profusely then waved to dispel their attention on me.

"Dumbledore, you meanie!" I mumbled, smiling hesitantly.

"Oy! What is she, some art piece? You can turn around now." called out Pansy. "Even you, _Weasley_." I turned to look at who she was talking to see three kids looking at me, even as their table turn to their foods. One of them has unruly black hair, round glasses and had tanned skin that clashed with his green eyes wonderfully. The other boy had red orange hair with pale skin that showed his freckles off and blue eyes that was squinted in irritation. The other was a girl with voluminous brown, curly hair. She has light, olive-toned skin and warm brown eyes and she was giving out a hesitant smile at me. I smiled back.

"The redhead is a Weasley. The black haired is Harry Potter. The bushy-tailed one is Hermione Granger." said Draco, without looking.

"I like her hair." I defended, looking at Draco, eyebrow raised in challenge. "With that type of hair, I could do anything with my hair. All I got is this limp as noodles." I whined, grabbed the dyed.

"If so, why she doesn't do anything with it?" asked Pansy and sighed. "I agree, that hair would look so cute with any type of clothes."

"With great education and success, you need to give something up in return to get to it. She gave up her vanity in return of knowledge. That's really great." I said, impressed.

"Why don't you go and kiss her?" said Draco, smiling.

"Shut up, idiot. It's alright to congratulate someone of something they are good at. You wouldn't understand, loner." I said, raspberrying him. Draco scoffed in disbelief. Blaise and Pansy snickered at the blond's reaction.

"A loner? Me? Claudia, I am a Malfoy. People beg to be our friends." he said, snapping his fingers. I rolled my eyes at that. "You don't believe me?"

"I believe you, Draco. You have lots of friends." I drawled, rolling my eyes. Something hit on my temple and I looked down to see a carrot. I narrowed my eyes at Draco who in return smirked back. I levitates the granola bar on my plate and threw it at him. It hit him right on his face.

"Enough, children. I am wearing the latest model of Clanis." interrupted Blaise, pointing at his ring finger. I raised my eyebrow at him and he sniffed pretentiously. It was silent for few seconds before all three of us busted out laughing.

[Hermione Granger's POV]

Sound of loud laughter came from the Slytherin table and I looked over to see what it was about. Draco, Blaise, Pansy, and the new girl Claudia were laughing hysterically. I widened my eyes in wonder as I watched Draco threw his head back and laughed _fully_. The sunlight graced his light blond hair, making it shine bright. I looked at the new girl to see her laughing as well.

"It's so strange to see them laugh." muttered Ron, twisting back to face his friends.

"I think it's bit refreshing." I noted, staring right into Ron's eyes, waiting for him to say a dumb comment. I think he saw the threat in my eyes that's why he shifted his gaze to his plate. "He was also affected by the Dark Lord a lot so to see him laugh gives the impression that anyone can get past or move on."

"Yeah, but he was _one_ of them." Ron said, his mouth filled with the meat pie. I scrounged my nose at that.

"He had no choice, Ron! If you were in his position with the threat of your family dying if you said no, what would you have done?" I asked, flabbergasted at his uncouthness. "I know he and his family hasn't treated you good, but I don't anyone... _anyone_...to go through what he did. Yeah, his dad decided that joining the Dark Lord was really horrible, but he hadn't realized that how _crazy_ it would be. That he had to share his ancestral home with the psycho, sadistic murderer and he can't do anything about it because if he said one word of his true distaste, he wouldn't be the one killed. It would have been Narcissa and Draco. And it was Narcissa who led to Harry's victory."

Ron looked at me, his face slightly reddening. I continued, "His dad joined Voldemort because he believed that magic should stay within the magical communities and Muggleborns were anomalies, thieves. You are who your family is: Draco grew up with the same mentality as Lucius did. And in pureblood customs, the wife doesn't have that much power in the household. That's where Malfoys differ from the rest of the pureblood families."

"How so?" Piped in Harry, taking a sip from his pumpkin juice. I was honestly amazed that he didn't blow up because I was defending the prat that almost killed Dumbledore. "To me, they are the same."

"Your guys' attention span is the same as a goldfish." I noted and Harry busted out laughing while Ron reddened even more. Something in my gut was saying that stop my analysis of the Malfoy family in good light but I had to make my point across. In my opinion, hatred doesn't let us grow. "Most purebloods are patriarchal, so the wife is only there for giving an heir and being a mother. Lucius Malfoy, on the other hand, gave lots of importance to his wife because he knows that she will the mother of his heir and he want's his heir to be perfect and Malfoy-like. Apparently, Lucius went through lots of torture in place of the Dark Lord marking his wife. He didn't want Draco to take a Mark either but what happened in fifth year led to Lucius punishment which was giving Draco a Mark and assigning him the impossible mission. Where have you guys been all that time?"

"We were more worried about our asses than ferret boy over there." Ron muttered.

Sensing another fight brewing between his best friends, Harry jumped in. "That's enough. I know the war has affected everyone in this school almost the same way, enough if they were on the wrong side. It's not easy to look at the bad guys as the victim's, Mione." I nodded, conceding the fact that six years of hell given by Draco wasn't easily overlooked. "It will be a slow process, if you are willing."

Ron didn't appear to have a comment and that worried me. I know Fred's death had changed the Weasley's forever and I still had to find out how much Ron had changed. George was still his funny, prankster persona but it was mellowed down a lot. Ginny had taken Fred's space as the prankster but there would be times that George would suddenly get so quiet that it jars you 'awake'; to see how he was really healing. Neville had lost Katie Bell but now, he had found his foundation to love and have a future with in Hannah Abbott. Someone had lost someone in the war; Harry the most. First his parents, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore, but he was going strong.

I snuck a look at Harry from under my lashes. Harry was laughing at whatever Seamus had said. _Yeah,_ I thought, _he was holding up really well_. My eyes flickered to Ron who was also laughing beside Harry. Oh, Ron. Even if we had tried, we wouldn't have been able to keep our relationship stable. After the hasty, adrenaline filled kiss that Ron and I had shared at the Chambers of Secrets, we had decided to see if we worked together good.

We hadn't. And I think Ron blames me for that. I liked him (or I thought I did) in my previous years. But I really think that my 'crush' on him had happened because honestly, he was the only boy I hanged out with, other than Harry and I concluded that: maybe because he stood by me, I had to like him. I willed myself to stop rolling my eyes. How _irrational_. Ron would just have to stop blaming me for not liking him.

Another burst of laughter caught my attention and my eyes flickered to the lively group of Slytherins. Pansy was in midst of throwing her bread roll at Blaise while Claudia held Blaise back, laughing. Draco was cheering for Pansy and Blaise had a fake betrayal on his face.

 _I made my decision_. I am going to befriend Claudia Everett.


	9. Chapter Eight

[Claudia's POV]

"Our first class is Herbology. If we have to start a mandrake on the first day of school, I will give Professor Sprout something to talk about!" Pansy said, raising her fist. Not knowing what she was talking about, I remained silent. Pansy and I were walking out of the side gate that lead to the Greenhouse. Excitement of learning something that I thought wasn't real coursed through my veins and there was a light skip to my step. Pansy saw this and shook her head, muttering about 'a next know-it-all'.

"Anyways, Draco and Blaise went ahead to grab us good seats. All the way in the back because we are Slytherins. We like to brood." Pansy said, sniffing pretentiously. I just giggled at that. "And we don't like to laugh. It's makes us...look human." I started to laugh even more. "How in the world are you a Slytherin? You are more of a Hufflepuff!"

I simply shrugged my shoulders, smiling at her. "I am ambitious. I can be cunning when I want to be. I get what I want." I said, putting my fingers to my chest.

"Why are you slowly sounding like Draco?" Pansy muttered and I busted out laughing, causing few Gryffindors ahead of us to turn around to see the commotions. " _Turn around, Gryffindorks!_ " The two students turn around and walked hurriedly. I made a face at Pansy and she just grinned at me. "What?"

"Was that necessary?"

She shrugged and I simply rolled my eyes. We rounded the corner of Hogwarts to see a domed glass building with various types of plant life accumulating in there. Both Gryffindors and Slytherins were entering the table. As we got closer, I realized that some plants were moving by themselves. My eyes widened as my pace got faster. "You are resembling to a dog right now, Claudia." Pansy whined, as she, too, walked faster to match my pace.

"You do realize that I was kind put in the dark about all of this?" I asked, waving my hands around, grinning widely. Pansy just smiled. "The fact that plants are moving as if someone is controlling them. I know you were born with all of this around and to you, I seem silly." I looked down, embarrassed.

"Shut up, Claudia. It doesn't seem silly. It's been awhile that we saw this type of excitement. After the war, even the first years are not as awed by Hogwarts as you are and honestly, it's like a balm to pride as Hogwarts students." She said, smiling softly. She paused then got red in the face. "I mean, I don't care about Hogwarts or anything!" She added hastily, then turned her nose up in the air.

I laughed really hard at her as we entered the Greenhouse, getting Draco and Blaise's attention. They waved us over to back and we walked past the Golden Trio and I made eye contact with Hermione again. I just waved at her then kept on walking. She waved back shyly, but then the Weasley kid shoot her a look which made her drop her hands but I saw her flash of anger go through her eyes.

 _Way to go, Weasley_.

"What got you laughing so hard, Everett?" Asked Draco, shrugging his robe off and setting on top of his bag. He was a wearing a fitted black, buttoned shirt with ironed black pants that made his ass look good. I also shrugged my robes off as Blaise and Pansy did the same.

"Pansy." I simply said and Draco nodded in understandment which caused the said girl to scoff and smack my upper arm. I giggled in response.

I felt a presence behind me and the hair on my neck stood up. "Dang, Claudia, you got some-"

"Finish that sentence, Goyle." I hissed to the hulking man, without even looking at him.

"There is no harm in complimenting on someone's talent, Claudia. Isn't that what you said earlier?" He asked, pushing my shoulders.

"Senior Goyle will be really sad if he were to find out that the Goyle family's lineage would end today, wouldn't he?" I asked, as I felt Draco stand next to me. Goyle turned red in the face with anger as Draco whined.

"Then who would serve the future Malfoy's when the Goyle's are gone?" Asked Draco, distraught. He looked at me, pleadingly. "Don't end the lineage! Think about my son!"

"Fuck off, Draco. We used to be friends." Goyle hissed, puffing up.

"Look, the only reason we were 'friends'," he quoted with his hands, "was because of our fathers being friends. Your father himself assigned you and Crabbe to be my side all of the time. Now, back off, Goyle. While you are at it, find Nott for me, will ya?" Draco asked and all he got was the middle finger.

"Nott?" I asked, confused.

"Theodore Nott, the brattiest Slytherin you ever met. He will be here shortly because he is a lazy ass and won't wake up on time." explained Pansy, sighing.

"I didn't see him last night?" I noted but it ended as a question.

"Again, lazy ass. Will only move if it had anything do with him." Draco admitted, and I laughed. Professor Sprout came into the greenhouse and clapped her hands, which brought the classrooms attention on her.

"You all know each other and know how I work so I won't repeat it. If anyone would like, you can share my way of rules of this course to Claudia after I give out the assignment." Sprout said, smiling at me. Blaise, Pansy, and Draco decided from behind me that they weren't going to do such tedious things. That someone else can do it. _Thank you, my House is so great!_ I thought sarcastically. Before Professor could speak any more, the gate to the greenhouse opened again to reveal a boy with a swimmers body wearing Slytherins robes. He has light brown hair that was combed to the side, sharp cheekbones that would rival any model's and dark brown eyes that looked mischievous. "Mr. Nott, you should invest in a clock if you are going to be late on the first day."

"My bad, professor. I had a run in with Headless Nick. _Literally._ " Theodore said, gliding past the snickering Slytherins. "Gryffindors, tell your ghost to not run around on his horse."

"Tell the Baron to stop laughing obnoxiously at breakfast!" a kid from Gryffindor yelled out.

"An impossible task." He answered as stood by us. The Gryffindor kid made an agreeing noise then went to talk about how ghosts can be dramatic. Theodore Nott turned towards us, having a smirk on his face. His eyes landed on me and he clicked his tongue.

"So it was true; we have a new student." He mused then put his hand out. "I am Theodore Nott, the heir of the Ancient House of Nott."

I grabbed it, blinking. "I am Claudia Everett, apparently the heir to Ancient House of Everett." I said, slowly. Theodore laughed at that then stopped, his eyes widening.

"Ah, it's been awhile that my dad groused about a Everett family. Something about not understanding the pureblood ways while being purebloods. He put them in the same category of blood traitors. What a piece of shit. Few days later, the Everetts weren't to be found." he mused on, then eyed me critically. "Are you saying, you are the daughter of Julie and Ambrose Everett?"

"Yes, I am." I asked, adding Theodore's name in my mental list to ask more about my parents.

"When my dad told me about the disappearance of the Everett's because of not joining them like few years back, I thought that the Dark Lo- _Voldemort_ killed them."

"No, they ran off to Muggle world and hid. I didn't know I was a witch until Dumbledore came to pick me up from the orphanage." I said, tense. "It's funny how they died after the asshole died. They survived by hiding from the homicidal freak but died by the hands of some rogue wizards. And I don't even know if they are trying to bring back the views of this Dark Lord."

Theodore was silent for a while. "What had happened to your family was sad, but it's kind of getting depressing, so let's move on." He wasn't being unkind. He just didn't want to dwell in it.

"You are absolutely right." I said, then turned to the professor to hear her start out the assignment.

"On your stations, it's plant called Dictamnus plant." Sprout explained and all of us looked at the autumn red leaves that had fiery orange veins running through it. " The oil from the is plant is flammable but it's used for medical uses. Auror medics would have this around. When a person get's hit by Deep Slicing hex, this is applied to the wound to sear the wound close, to stop the bleeding. Yes, you could use Dittany but that's for shallow wounds. This is only used for wounds that is so deep that you would need immediate medical care. This method of healing is in both muggle world and this world and it is called cauterization."

Sprout looked around to see if anyone had a question but she was met with horrified silence. "Today's lesson is extracting the oil from the leaves. The oil itself is not hot to have gloves on but it's better to wear it. If it get's on your eyes, you will be temporarily blinded. Temporarily as in two weeks. I will show how to extract oil from the leaves by hand. Yes, magic is the easier way to do it but also the riskiest way to go up in flames. There will be chances of your magic igniting the oil so watch me carefully."

The students oooh-ed and ah-ed as they watch the professor squeeze the oil as she explained how it needs to be softened by adding this potion and using this type of powder to loosen up the pores in the leaf. It was cool. I was amazed as I watched the clear oil drop continuously from the leaf. "Get on with it. Talk amongst yourself but don't get distracted."

"Flammable stuff on the first day of school?" Pansy said, frowning.

"At least, it's not a mandrake, whatever that is." I commented and she nodded in agreement.

"You really don't want to know what a mandrake is." Theodore said, shuddering. I don't want to know anymore from the faces of the group around me. I got my gloves on and started to do exactly what Sprout did, praying that I won't catch on fire because of my unstable magic that I have still have reign on. A lantern exploded around me because I had laughed too hard at our common room last night.

But I didn't need to worry; the clear liquid that had a slight scent of smoke dropped from the leaf I was holding. One leaf done, several more to go. I had to fill my vial up and write my name on it. I let the dried up dictamnus leaf fall from my fingers, the leaf's red color staining the tips of my fingers. I grabbed another one. I felt someone tug on my shirt from behind me. I turned around, with a leaf in my hand, to see Hermione Granger, smiling hesitantly at me.

I gave her a bright smile. "Hello!" I greeted, placing the leaf back on the pile. "I would shake your hand but I don't think you would want flammable oil on your hands."

She giggled. "Unless if I were to be wearing gloves, which I am." she replied back, wiggling her gloved fingers at me. I put my hand out and she shook it. "I am Hermione Granger."

"And you know me." I replied, laughing. I told Draco to move so I could let Hermione in. She had brought her vial and her bowl of leaves with her. "Draco here introduced you to me last night at dinner. I wanted to come say hi but your friend Ron doesn't look to inviting."

"Well, Ron is barmy plonker, that's what he is!" Hermione grumbled and behind me Draco choked. I turned around to see that he was facing Theodore and Theodore had a blank look on his face. I narrowed my eyes then turned back to Hermione. "He is not the one to tell me whom to be friends with! I am not his sister!"

"It happened more than once?"

"Since fifth year! Harry tried to talk some sense to him and somehow it ended up them arguing about why Harry was dating his sister." she said, looking confused. I gave her a confused smile.

"Your friendship is very...intricate." I said, slowly, lifting up my vial to see how far I was. Not even halfway through! I wonder if I can grab two…

"Don't grab two." Hermione said, putting her hand over mine. "It will cause friction and...boom." I whinged a bit, then went back to squeezing one leaf at a time. "Oh yeah, very intricate. Ron made fun of me at first year of school, calling me a know-it-all and that I won't get friends because of swotty attitude."

"I have this sudden urge to burn his hair." I muttered. Hermione laughed at that. "Then, how…?"

"A troll was let loose in Hogwarts, by the dungeons. I was in the girl's bathroom crying because of what Ron said. In short, Harry and Ron came and saved me from the troll." she explained and I just gazed at her. "I know. It's not your average friendship stories."

"Yeah, that's true. Well, I guess that is one way to gain friends. Who am I to judge? My best friend back in the muggle world was gained by him falling down the stairs and landed right by my feet. We became friends while I was taking him to the nurse's office. Mind you, he was 6 ft tall while I was 5'3. It was a struggle." I explained, giggling. My smile fell off when I realized who I was talking about. _James!_

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione, seeing the change of emotion on my face. Her questions attracted Draco, Theodore, Pansy and Blaise's attention. Hermione just shrugged when Draco threw her questioning glance.

"After my parents died, I was immediately sent to the police office-the Aurors of muggles-then straight to the social services because I was still 17, then straight into the orphanage…" I trailed off, horrified.

"And…?" Pansy urged to finish the sentence.

"You haven't spoken to your best friend yet!" Hermione guessed and everyone looked at her with blank faces. She gave a hesitant smile. "I couldn't stand the tension."

"That's true. I haven't even thought about him." I said, picking up a leaf to finish my assignment. "What he must be going through and I didn't even bother to remember him or tell him…"

"Your family died right in front of your eyes. I think he will understand that you had lots of thing going through your mind." Hermione stated, putting a hand on my shoulder. I simply nodded.

"I wonder how I can get in touch with him and tell him not to worry anymore. I obviously can't send him an owl because he is a muggle." I said, looking at my friends questioningly.

"Granger, you still talk to your parents, right?" asked Draco, looking at the intended girl. Hermione gave him a surprised look and nodded. "What do you use?"

"An owl but my parents know that I am a witch. Her best friend doesn't." Hermione reminded and Draco nodded. I could see the hesitancy in her eyes when she looked at Draco. I put that away to ask later.

"You can just tell him. If he is your best friend, then he will understand." Pansy said, shrugging.

"He will think I am barmy." I said, realizing that I was done with my assignment. I grabbed the stopper and plugged it in. I wrote my name on the intended space on the vial and placed it carefully down at the table.

"But he would know that you were alright." Theodore responded and I just stared at my hands. "You will write him tonight and I will give you my owl to borrow." I nodded and everyone went back to finishing their assignment. Even if he thinks I am barmy, he knows I am doing well. I picked up my vial and walked to Professor Sprout.

"Oh, are you done? You might have a future in herbology, Miss. Everett." Sprout said, taking the vial away from me. "Just leave the leaves where they are." I nodded and walked back to the group. Hermione was still there, finishing her vial by writing her name on it. I can already see James's face; incredulous, angry, eyeing the owl at the corner of his eye, realizing all I have been saying was true. _How could I forget about James?_ I chided myself. _But then again, what would he have do? I am here and he is over there._

"Stop thinking. You are giving me a headache." Pansy said, hitting my shoulder with hers. Hermione came back and raised an eyebrow.

"No one can just stop thinking!" I said, hitting her back with my shoulder.

"Yeah, they can." Draco said, handing his vial to Theodore. Theodore left without making a noise.

"No, they can't." Hermione said, backing me up. "If it were that easy…"

"I don't know what kind of a whirlwind your mind is, Granger. I can always see the gears turning. How can Weasley and Potter stand that?" Draco said, smirking.

"They don't. I have to do their thinking for them, too!"

Draco nodded, sagely. "They _are_ idiotic buffoons." Hermione tried to defend her boys but one look from Draco confirmed it.

"They are not dumb. They just don't want to use it. They are the embodiment of 'act fast, think later' phrase." Hermione explained when I gave her confused look. I made a noise of understanding and giggled. "I always wondered how they succeeded to get to seventh year."

"They cheated off of you, Granger." Pansy answered, laughing. "All they do know is having a temper and Harry is good in Defense because he the Boy Who Lived. Agree or not?"

Hermione scrunched up her face in response. _Heh, she didn't deny it_. "That's enough. Finish your leaves." I said, giggling. Hermione looked over at her side of the table then sighed. "The stooges want you back?"

"Yeah, I better get going or else they both will think I am being held against my will." Hermione said and I nodded. She looked over to the Slytherins who were standing about. She looked torn; as if not knowing what to do. She decided on a wave then hurriedly walked to her precious group and she was already being interrogated by Harry and Ron.

"You know if someone were to decide who to be friends with, I would honestly punch them." I noted.

"She doesn't do punches; she _hexes_ them. If Weasley keeps on wheedling her about her choices, he is going to get it." Blaise said, leaning against the table. All five of us looked down to see a red faced Hermione glaring at the oblivious redhead, her hair twitching in the hair because of her agitated magic. I watched as Harry realized that Ron might die tonight then continued to calm his two best friends down with his hands up. He succeeded then he said something that caused both Ron and Hermione to chuckle.

What an intricate friendship. My eyes flurried to the four people around me. I wonder if I will be evolves into that type of friendship. Once the Slytherin Quad group grew bored of watching the Golden Trip, we mingled amongst ourselves till the class ended.

"You have a hour of Divination with the Ravenclaws. We all have classes on the opposite side of Astronomy tower. Just follow those guys," Pansy said, pointing at older blue-tied students walking together, "and they will take you. After Divination, all of us have Lunch so meet us back at the Great Hall then afterwards, we have DADA with the Gryffindors."

"Yes, ma'am!" I said, saluting. "I will see you later." I waved at them before I followed the Ravenclaws. The huge passageway was loud with kids conversation and laughter. Some younger kids would throw hexes at their friends and resulted in colorful hair or skins. Pansy also thought me some playful hexes. I will try them on Draco when I next time I see him.

Getting to the Astronomy Tower took a ordeal of ten minutes, trying to get through the foot traffic of students getting out of classes. As I begin to climb the circular stairs, I felt someone walk beside me. I looked to see a girl with long blond hair and dazed blue eyes. Her face had a dewy sheen to it, making it look like small particles of diamond dust was brushed on the high tops of her cheekbones, her brow bones and on tip of her nose. She in general was ethereal looking and- _were there plums hanging from her ears_?

As if sensing me looking at her, she turned her head towards me slowly as if her head was in a bubble of water. "Hello." she said, her voice wispy and soft. Despite having a dazed look in her eyes, I could see wisdom and intelligence in her eyes. "I am Luna Lovegood. Most people call me Loony Lovegood behind my back."

I frowned at that. "That's not nice of them. Quite horrible. Give me their names and I will set them straight." I said, putting my fist out. Luna just smiled at that.

"Thank you but it is not needed. I don't find offense in it. Quite intriguing, honestly. When a person finds out strange but true things, their mental defenses come up and try to shut it out. They are not ready to accept the fact that nargles are flying around their head." Luna said, shaking her head. I gave her confused look. "Nargles are creatures that only few can see and they are quite mischievous sort. Two years back, they had taken all my favorite pairs of shoes and hid them all over the castle. But to most, they don't believe nargles exist."

"If most of them can't see it, then it doesn't mean everyone can't see it. I am really new to this world so I am sure there are Nargles flying around." I commented, sensing that she lived in a very enlightening home to see these creatures.

"It seems that only the Lovegoods can sense them. My dad can." Luna explained further. A kid brushed onto Luna's shoulder hard, but he didn't stop to say sorry. Luna put her hand on my shoulder when she realized that I was going to shout.

"I am sorry. I just don't like it when people be really rude to others for no damn reason." I said, smiling sheepishly.

"That's quite alright. Are you heading to Divination?" she asked and I nodded. "You might find it rubbish; I do."

"Divination is basically reading the future, right?"

She nodded. "The teacher believes that fate is set in place. I believe that whatever choices you make today will shape how our future will turn out."

"It does make sense. I don't think I would enjoy this class as much as I have with Herbology." I noted as we finally got to our class. My thighs were straining with the slight workout, reminding me that working out should also be in my priority list. Luna didn't look haggard as I did. She smiled at me then entered the classroom and I followed behind her.

First thing I saw were assorted dark sheer drapes hanging all over the room. There were beaded curtains by the windows and strange herbs hanging from the ceiling. The whole room was circular and the desk curved half way around, leaving the space in the middle of the teacher. I went to sit next to Luna and settled down. The room had a smell of bergamot and it was quite sickly: I hate the smell of bergamot.

There was a hidden passageway covered with beaded curtain and it rustled when the teacher burst through with a great zeal of energy. She had the most bushiest curly hair that was the color of hay twinged with gray. She had round glasses so thick that it made her eyes huge. She was wearing a dress that resembled the drapes around her and she wore assorted rings on her fingers.

Then she began.

My whole mouth was open in shock. I looked at Luna for help but she was looking into space, day-dreaming. _I don't know what to do!_ Then the assignment came. Trelawney, the professor's name, swung her wand and two porcelain tea cups filled with, what I presume, appeared on my table.

"Drink the tea and leave the tea leaves in. Once down, take your partner's cup and give your own cup to your partner. Open your book to chapter three and compare your partner's leaves. Now, begin."

I drank the tea and immediately grimaced. I knew it was bergamot. I held my breath and drank the tea in one go. Luna did the same and we exchanged teacups. I flipped my book open to the required page. I looked in Luna's cup and it oddly resembled a sun. I look through the pages and it told me that the sun meant enlightening. "You are tea leaves mean enlightening! What does mine say?"

"Yours look like a deformed bunny." she said and I made a face at that. As she looking at it, Trelawny walked behind her and gazed into my cup. The professor let out a startled shout and grabbed my cup from Luna's hand. Everyone looked towards the teacher.

"Is everything alright, professor?" asked a girl from Ravenclaw.

"Are you sure this is your cup, Miss. Everett?" asked the professor and I nodded, worried. "This is bad news. The shape of the deformed bunny...it means you are being hunted down, Claudia. The Grim is almost similar but the Hunted is bad. They won't give up until they got what they want. It doesn't necessarily mean death."

My blood ran cold, leaving my whole body pallor. I could fill the churning of my stomach and lump form in my throat. It suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe. Whoever killed my parents didn't stop there; they wanted me also. If they wanted me dead, they could have killed me right there and then. They must have known that I was home; why did they let me live? Just for the sake of the hunt? I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to see it belong to the professor. She had sympathy in her eyes.

"I don't think I could make it lunch, Luna." I mumbled, stuffing my books back into my bag. Luna nodded in understandment. I turned to the professor. "I am sorry for leaving class this early but…" I didn't finish my sentence. I needed to leave fast. I turned around and ran out of the room, my breathing haggard. I descended down the stairs as fast but as safe as I can.

Once I reached flattened ground again, I ran all the way to my common room. Adler opened his eyes but I just shouted out the password and the apology. Adler seemed to see my distress and simply nodded. The door swung inward and I hastily jogged to the girl's dorms just to see it was empty. I dropped my bookbag on the floor and flung myself onto my bed.

Why didn't they just kill me?


	10. Chapter Nine

[Pansy Parkinson's POV]

How in the world did I get into this class? I stared boredly at Professor Vector who droned on about runes. Maybe it was punishment for making fun of her ghastly lip color. I looked over at Draco to see him look attentive in class. Despite everything that happened in his life, he still wanted to be the best. His sole goal in this school was to beat Granger in every subject she was good at...which was everything. I don't know what his reason was for this time around. Last time he tried to beat Granger was in fifth year (totally ignoring how his mental prowess was destroyed at sixth year) and he was doing it to impress his dad. Now, I am not sure.

"I would like to see you try these problems that I have put on the board by the next time we are together again. This is type of homework that shows me that you tried to figure it out, not if you got the right or wrong answer. This is a hard chapter to learn and I want you to learn so I won't be basing your grade on if you got the right answers but on the fact that you are on your right track. If you are still unsure of these methods, I am at my office until appropriate times." Vector announced, concluding the class period. Shit, I didn't pay attention. Everyone got up and put their things in their bags, getting ready to leave for Lunch.

Stomach grumbled, reminding me that the simple toast I had for breakfast wasn't enough so I hurriedly put my things away then stood by Draco, who took his leisurely time to pack. A Malfoy never rushes, that is what he used to tell me. Draco finally packed his bag and gave me smirk, knowing how impatient I was. "Brat." I muttered and he smirked even more. "Let's go already. I am sure Claudia is already there waiting for us."

"Since when did you go soft on newer kids?" asked Draco as we descended down the magical stairs. I gave him a surprised look. "I mean, out of all of us, you befriended her pretty fast even though at the beginning you were being the usual you: a bitch."

"I don't know." I answered, truthfully. "Maybe it's nice befriend someone who hasn't been affected by the war." Draco nodded at that. "And I wasn't the only one; you got pretty comfortable yourself."

Draco just smiled. "Maybe it's what you said: something that we want so much: normalcy. I got used to people giving me bad looks, but when Everett looked at me with no judgement, I don't know, I felt relieved." He looked so flustered that it was cute. He wasn't keen on talking about his feelings but I smiled at him, softly. "Stop smiling."

"Nope." I denied, popping my 'p'. As we got closer to the Great Hall, Theo and Blaise were waiting by one of our favorite alcoves. We greeted them then entered the Great Hall. We went to our table and sat down, talking amongst ourselves. In few minutes, the Great Hall was brimming with students, excited about food. Well, except for one.

"Where is Claudia?" asked Theo, noticing the absence of blue-haired girl. I didn't answer but I was really worried. "Did she get lost?"

"Maybe she is with Granger." Draco proposed, then all of us looked at the Gryffindor table just to see that she wasn't sitting there as well. As if sensing our gaze, Granger looked towards us. She saw our worried gaze then nodded her head upwards, as if asking what's wrong.

"Have you seen Claudia?" I mouthed to her and she shook her head, her wild curls flying around. She, too, became worried.

"Where could she be? Her last class was Divination." Blaise said, realizing that in short period of time, Claudia had became one of them. Draco was looking towards the Head table. I followed his gaze to see him looking directly into Professor Snape's eyes. They must be communicating through Occlumency.

"Snape doesn't know, either."

Before we could analyze further, Draco looked past my shoulder with raised eyebrows. "Yes, Lovegood?" I turned around to see the silly blond girl standing behind us, her hand clasped together.

"If you are wondering where Claudia is, I am sure she is in your common room." Lovegood explained and each of us looked at one another in confusion

"Why?"

"We did the tea leaves reading in class. She got the shape of deformed bunny. In other words, it's called the Hunted. Trelawney explained that she was being hunted down by the same people who killed her parents. She was really scared out of her mind that she left right in middle of class. I am quite worried." Lovegood explained and my mouth fell open. I got out of my table really quickly, grabbing my bag. I turned to the boys.

"Bring some food for me and Claudia. Lovegood, have you eaten?" Luna shook her head. "Then come with me. Also, bring Granger. Save some food for her as well. We are going to go check on her. Shit, she must be all by herself with her thoughts." Luna looked surprised for a second, then nodded. She already had her bookbag with her. Luna left for Granger as the boys nodded in agreement. I waited for Granger and Luna to come just to see Granger fighting with both Harry and Ron. I growled under my breath but sighed in relief that Granger stood her ground, grabbed her bag, and rushed to my side.

"What's wrong with Claudia?" asked Granger as we hurriedly left the Great Hall.

"I will tell you on the way." Luna said and went into further detail and explanation at what happened in Divination.

"I knew that class was rubbish! Harry's Grim, the one Trelawney embellished to the point of scaring him, turned out to be his Godfather." Hermione grumbled as descended the stairs that led to the dungeons. "No logic at all." No one spoke deeper into this about topic. We stopped right in front of Adler who had his eyes open, with his head resting on top his hands. He eyed Luna and Granger with surprise then the all-knowing look he always has.

I uttered the password. "You will find Miss. Everett in her dorm. She was distraught. May I know why?" Adler asked, curious.

"In Divination, she has been told that she is being Hunted down by the very people who killed her parents." Granger said and Adler sighed, closing his eyes.

"We just can't have a rest." He said, opening the door wide. We didn't bother answer; we just ran inside. In a normal day in the previous years, the thought of students who are not Slytherin being in the Slytherin common room would have caused an angry, violent fight, but this time, the thought of blood makes anyone cringe. There were several Slytherin kids who were frozen as they saw the members of their rival Houses in their home. We didn't pay any attention them; we just climbed the stairs that led to my dorm.

We found the door closed but not locked. I knocked on the door and the sound of rustling came from other side of the door. A weak 'come in' resonated through the door. All of us streamed through the door in a hurry to see Claudia sitting on her bed. Her legs were covered with the green comforter and her back against the headboard of the bed. She was not crying but her eyes were red and puffy. She was giving us an apologetic smile.

"I am sorry, you guys. With all the business of settling down and all, I had totally forgot about the situation I was in." Claudia said, her voice quivering towards the end. She sniffed hard then dabbed her nose with a wrinkled handkerchief she was holding. "They knew I was at home but they didn't kill me...they must have a plan for me."

Hermione jumped on Claudia's bed and held her hand. "Plan or no plan, Hogwarts is the place for you in this certain circumstances. If Dumbledore thought that this place was not safe, he wouldn't send you here." soothed Hermione. "If they are hunting you-no," her voice turned into steel when Claudia began to correct, " we don't have any evidence that they are hunting you-they cannot hurt you unless or until you leave the premises of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade."

"I would take any claims from Trelawney with a grain of salt, Claudia." I piped in and she gave me confused glance. "Her claims barely skims the surface of what she predicts. If she predicts anything…"

"Take for instance, Harry Potter." Chimed in Luna.

"In our third year, a man named Sirius Black escaped from the wizarding prison called Azkaban. He is an animagus and his animal is a dog. An animagus is a witch or a wizard who have learned the ability to change into form of an animal that is chosen by magic. In order to be animagus, you have to-"

"Hermione, this is not a time for teaching." I cut in and Hermione flushed and smiled a sheepish grin. Claudia smiled at that as well.

Without being deterred again, Hermione had explained the situation, including the Grim, the embellishment made by Trelawney. "So, Sirius could have done a better job at finding Peter and reconciling with Harry and Remus instead of destroying school property instead of scaring all the student population."

Claudia was horrified. "How can someone betray their friends like that?"

[Claudia's POV]

I am horrified. Hermione just gave me a brief overview on what lead to the imprisonment of Sirius Black for twelve years. "How can someone betray their friends like that?"

Luna and Pansy shrugged, shaking their heads. I looked at Hermione and she was chewing on her bottom lip. "Peter was really weak hearted or that's what Remus and Sirius had told us. He was most of the time butt of their jokes so being believed in by the Death Eaters could have easily made Peter switch sides."

"That is not an excuse to give the Dark Lord information that led to his best friend's death!" I hissed. My anger was swallowing this fears I had before. "How-how-" I stuttered myself to stop, inhaled then exhaled slowly.

"No wonder Sirius didn't give a flying shit about the school when Peter was right beside his Godson." I said, frowning. Before I could curse Peter even more, my stomach growled loudly which caused the domino's effect as one by one, Pany's, Luna's, and Hermione's stomachs growled.

For two seconds it was silent then all of us started laughing. Pansy pointed her wand at me and muttered a spell. In an instant, my face felt refreshed and I was not tired anymore. Looking at the mirror, I saw my red, puffy face was gone, leaving me with my usual pale skin.

"Let's head downstairs. I am sure the boys are back with our food. Granger, we saved food for you as well then we can go to DADA together." Pansy said and all of us agreed, although Hermione's reply was slower than the rest of us. I made sure my uniform was not wrinkled from sitting on the bed then followed the girls out of the door.

As we reached the common room, we saw the boys sitting on the muted green couches. They heard us coming down and got up. Draco walked up to me with questioning look. "You good?" He asked and I nodded, smiling.

"We got you guys food. We exactly know how Pansy gets when there is no food in her system." Theo added, snickering. Pansy just glared at him while settling down on the couches. There were four plates brimming with food. Mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, Shepherd's Pie, salad and one extra plate filled with desserts. Hermione sat next to me, looking at the food in wonder. Plates and eating utensils magically appeared and everyone decided to dig in.

"Everything good, girls?" asked Blaise, drinking a gold ochre in color drink from a tumbler glass. After swallowing the golden liquid, he cringed a little bit. Ah, alcohol. I am assuming that it belongs to the magical world. Got to try it once.

"Everything is fine, Zabibi." Pansy said before eating the mash potato on her fork. Zabini eyed Pansy with a glare. Pansy just smirked back.

"It's Zabini."

"Okay, Bini."

"Zabini! Get it right, Parkinson! Only person that called me 'Bini' was my ex girlfriend from Cannes and I really don't want to think about that creature!" he protested, then did an exaggerating shake of his body, really showing how he really felt about his ex.

"What was her name? Gabrielle...something French?" asked Theo them he put his hands on his chest and curled it look like claws. "The busty one?"

Zabini sighed. How did the subject of worrying about Claudia changed into the subject of his nightmare? "Gabrielle Bouchard was her name and yes, she was busty."

"Didn't she try to woo your father?" asked Pansy, sipping the alcohol as well.

"Didn't she also try to steal your Gringott's key?" Theo snorted and Draco slapped his own knee, as if he remembered something.

"Didn't she try to suck your soul right from your dick?" He asked and the group began to laugh at that.

Luna, Hermione, and I just simply sat back and watched how Blaise's face paled in remembrance. "After I was was done, she kept on sucking! It hurt! Laugh all you want, Draco, I hope it happens to you as well!" Harrumphing, Blaide knocked back his drink as fresh round of laughter erupted, the three new girls in there group joining as well.

"You need to choose your girlfriends wisely, Blaise!" I said, after wiping the tears from my eyes.

"It is not my fault that I am inclined more to busty females." Blaise said, then sniffed arrogantly. "Where would I rest my head on flat chested girl?"

"Oh, poor you!" I frowned mockingly. He simply shook his head, distraught.

"Now I know how to brew the Polyjuice Potion, I can be your busty female." Theo said, fluttering his long eyelashes, seductively. Hermione choked on the treacle tart she was eating at the notion.

This created another laughing fit which caused Hermione to throw pieces of crust at Theo and Draco who retaliated back with throwing mashed raspberries at us.

The Slytherin Common Room was, for once, colorful from the mashed fruits that was caused by mini food fight.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"No matter how many times I scourgify myself, I still smell like treacle tarts!" whined Pansy as all of us left for DADA. I sniffed my uniform to find it was actually pleasant.

"I smell like berries!" I said, happily. Pansy just mimicked my face but ducked away before I could retaliate.

"Lucky, I smell like pastries." Blaise muttered and Draco snorted.

"At least you don't smell like taters." Draco said, pointing his wand at himself and muttered scourgify.

"I smell like taters as well." grumbled Hermione. "This wouldn't have happened if someone had not thrown the taters!"

"Hold up, if you hadn't thrown the crust, none of this would have happened! My hair was ruined!" Draco snapped back. We all saw the fire in Hermione's eyes and knew it was going to be a huge fight.

"All of us smell like something and have our hair ruined. Stop being a cry baby, Draco, your hair is fine! All of our hairs are fine!" I interrupted, raising my hands to stop them. Pansy snorted.

"Easy for you to say. You smell like berries." Pansy grumbled and I rolled my eyes.

"Bunch of wussies, I swear." I commented, but before anyone could defend their dignities, we almost stumbled upon the statue of Professor Snape. We stopped behind him and watched as the professor thought about something.

"Um, Professor?" Granger called out, hesitantly, which made the stoic teacher turn in his heels towards us. If he was surprised by us, he didn't show it. He raised his eyebrows at the two new addition of group but didn't comment. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Ms. Granger. I came here to do something but...I've seemed to forget what it was." Snape drawled, his eyes moving over each of us. Draco snorted which made Snape's obsidian eyes swivel to him fast. "Something funny, Mr. Malfoy?"

"He wanted to check on Claudia. He decided against it because it will make him seem soft." Draco explained, snickering. I raised my eyebrows at the teacher who in returned scowled at Draco.

"It seems like you are mistaken. I wanted to come and remind you all the classes were about to start." Snape denied while the whole gang smiled secretly.

"I thought you forgot the reason for coming here, Professor." I said, innocently. Snape froze for a little bit then sniffed while Theo and Draco laughed.

"Looking at all of you made me remember it. Thank you for that. Now, off you go or I will deduct points!" Snape said, not even looking flustered at the accusation. "While we are on the topic, Miss. Everett, are you feeling better?" He was looking at me so he didn't see when Draco smiled like a cat who ate the canary.

"I am feeling quite better. It was a scare but a reminder as well." I said, nodding. He nodded as well then made the notion for us to keep on going. He walked past us, towards the dungeon and we continued our trek to our class.

"I am surprised that he let you talk to him like that." I noted as we passed a group of Gryffindors who was shocked to see Granger with us. Seeing that it was making her uncomfortable, I glared at the group until they looked away in a hurried fashion.

"He is my Godfather." Draco replied and my eyes widened. "However, he treats me like he would to any student!" He pouted and all of us laughed.

"He still shows favoritism to you guys! He loves to hang us dry." Granger commented, pursing her lips.

"Well, Pothead and Weaselbee loves to bring that side out of him for no reason. If they worked like they should, Snape wouldn't single them out but Pothead loves to show how great he is." Draco said, eyeing the bushy tailed girl for her reaction. And the reaction he got, he loved it. Her face became quite red and her eyes slitted to a glare that could have killed.

"Harry doesn't act like he is greater than everybody! That's your job! Harry just hates how Professor Snape treats students that are not from his house. You can barely make a potion and yet he gives you points while I make a better version and I get no points!" Hermione hissed back, her hair raising in volume, magic running through it like electricity.

It was Draco's turn to glare. "Barely? I make better potions than you, Granger!"

"Then explain why you are second best!" She bit back, causing Draco to flush red in anger. "I'll admit that you are good with your wand, however." Draco's mouth popped open in surprise. Her admittance had quickly wiped his anger out.

"Which wand?" asked Blaise, wiggling his eyebrows and Pansy smacked his upper arm in response.

"I am not weak in DADA spells but I am not strong in them either, like you or Harry but we haven't got exactly good teachers except for Lupin and Snape." Hermione continued on as if the interruption from Blaise never happened.

Draco closed his mouth, her phrase making his cheeks tint pink. "What about the private lessons from Potter in fifth year?" He asked, quirking his eyebrows.

"Oh I learned a lot in those sessions than I ever did in a while. Harry is a good teacher. He taught us the Patronus charms and better hexing charms." she said, smiling.

"You know the Patronus charm?" Draco asked in surprise.

"You don't?"

Draco looked like he didn't like that she knew something that he didn't. "I could teach you." She said which made him drop his mouth. "It's not like I want you to be in same pace as me," he scowled at this, " but I want to know what your animal is. My Patronus is an otter."

"I hope his Patronus is not a ferret." Theo mused which everyone laughed except for me. It was an inside joke.

"What's a Patronus?" I asked and Hermione opened her mouth but Draco beat her to it.

"Better ask Lupin that question because if you let Granger here explain it to you, it will be middle of the night when she is done." Draco butted in when he saw the sparkle in Granger's eyes. Blaise and Theo just smirked at that.

Hermione's face tinged pink but she didn't refute. I just giggled at their antics. I felt someone tug on my sleeves to see it was Luna, smiling at me. Despite not uttering a word in the Slytherin common room, she had joined food fight. "I have another class to go to. It's nearby so I will see you all later." she said, smiling at everyone. We bid her farewell.

"Let's go inside. We don't want to get Claudia late for this class."

Apparently, Potter and Weasley were not pleased to see their best friend enter the classroom with the snakes.

They were scowling at her, their lips set in a grim line. I looked at Hermione and watched her face fall at that. I caught her eye and frowned. She just gave me a hesitant smile while rolling her eyes and made her way to her best friends. Hermione can befriend whoever she wants to and if they were her best friends, they should support her. My frown evolved into a thin-lipped grimace and I glared at the backs of Potter's and Weasley's head. I set my books at the spot next to Pansy who caught my turbulent emotions.

"What's wrong?" she asked but I was too angry to respond to her. I looked around to see if Remus was around and found that he was not. I looked over at Hermione's table to see them bickering with each other.

Needless to say, I had enough.

I walked up to their table and stood in front of them. I crossed my arms across my chest as the trio looked up at me, their eyes wide from shock. "So," I began, looking right into Potter's eyes, "how long has it been since the war ended?"

"It will be...two years in seven months." Potter responded, after clearing his throat.

"You have got to make it clear for me because I am new to this." I said, chuckling a little bit. I moved my eyes to Ron, who swallowed audibly. "Was the war with Voldemort or Slytherins?"

"Voldemort, of course. His followers were from Slytherin, however."

"All of them?"

"Well, n-n-no, they were some Ravenclaws."

"So those Ravenclaw followed Voldemort makes the whole House dirty?"

"Well, no, because-"

"So, you are saying that because of most of Voldemort's followers were Slytherin, that the House is dirty?" I could feel my housemates eyes on me but I only focused on those two.

"You, as well anyone in this room, know that they joined Lord Asshole because of their father's sins? If they joined willingly, do you think Dumbledore would take them back in?" I asked, knowing in the back of my mind that I was making enemies out of the Gryffindor's.

"Actually, he still would let them enter…" muttered Ron but quieted down when I turned to look at him. I turned back to Harry and raised my eyebrow at him.

Harry had the gall to look away from my inquisitive look. "I don't have anything against them attending the school."

"You are just against Hermione becoming friends with them." I surmised and Harry was silent. "Who are you, her dad? She can decide for herself who she wants to be friends with, not you. If she wants to become friends with the Asshole of the Century, she can. She can make decisions for herself. You have told her what you thought and she heard it. DON'T try to control her." I almost shouted but I reeled myself in. "I may be new here, but I am not dumb enough to not recognize the signs of guilt trip."

"I don't know why you are butting in?" asked Ron.

"Because she is my friend. She approached me when she didn't have to if she had your mindset. Which she doesn't, because she is smart!" I held myself back from giving Weasley another set of freckles. "I really don't understand. She is the one that faced lots of prejudice from them but yet she is looking past that and hanging out with us. Yes, with bit hesitancy but what do you expect? Everyone is trying to move past the horrors of last year but you two are still holding on to it. But it's none of my business because I didn't go through what you guys went through. It's not my place but please, let Hermione make her own decisions and don't make her feel guilty about it."

I nodded at them then walked back to my place beside Pansy. Pansy gave me a smirk and I returned it. Apparently, Professor Lupin had arrived and had watched me lecture the boys. He didn't comment on it but he looked puzzled. I caught Hermione's look and she simply looked exasperated and I gave her sheepish shrug.

"All right, settle down!" Remus called out and the whole room quieted down in mere seconds. "We have been through alot in the past couple of years and some of you have been asking around why we still need to have DADA." He eyed several kids at the front, his eyes flitting over Harry for two seconds. Of course.

"Magic is about control. You can easily lose control of protego if something else catches your attention. You need to know how to keep the shield up while you are being distracted." Remus explained, waving his wand. I watched as words appear magically on the blackboard. "You need to be perfect at this if you are considering to be an Auror."

I was, obviously, confused. "You will be assigned in a group of three and I will decide on the grouping." The class groaned at that. "You already know your friends wand work so it would be pointless so new people creates new challenges. "Today's lesson will teach you how to keep your attention on your attacker while the third party will do anything to distract you. Only playful hex, third party. You guys will decide who is who. Let's get started."

He began listing the groups on the board. Draco was teamed up with Edgar Bones and Parvati Patil. Pansy was teamed with Ron and Marietta, the former's displeasure, seeing how she was glaring at the redhead. Hermione was paired with Blaise and Seamus; those three didn't hate each other so they looked excited. Harry was paired with Theo and Cormac; you could see how awkward it was.. Whereas I stood idly by, not knowing what to do. Small hint of panic rose at the back of my head. Was I supposed to have read something last night?

Towards the end, Remus stood next to me, smiling kindly. "Ms. Everett, you will be my partner for today." Remus said, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. " I will teach you the basics and move on up. But meet me after class so we could talk about tutorial services, all right?" I nodded, excited. He led me to a spot in the classroom that was roomy enough for four people.

"We will learn the incantation and the wand movements without the wand first. After you get how to say it and memorize all the flicks and turns, then we will repeat with a wand. Understood?" Remus instructed, looking at me expectantly, his brown eyes were slightly tinged with gold. Remus was in his professor mode. I watched how his eyes traveled quickly around the classroom and narrow here and there as he noted his pupils lessons then back at me.

"I completely understand." I affirmed and he nodded with a smile.

"Let's start. Let's start with the incantation. Protego. This is a charm that protects the caster from most spells. It is invisible until a spell is casted up on it which creates bluish-white light. It will vibrate and you will feel it, not painful. This charm doesn't protect you from the Killing Curse, unfortunately. So, say it, protego. Sharp and clear pronunciation creates a better result." he explained.

"Pro-tay-go." I said, saying it like I heard it. Remus gave me a bright smile, nodding.

"Excellent. Now, this charm has levels and each of them have different saying like Protego Totalum which is used to shield a certain place for certain amount of time and Protego Maxima is strongest of them all and can be casted upon larger areas. However, if spells are keep bombarding them casted by many castors, it will break." He stopped for a second, his eyes glazing over.

"Are you alright, Professor?" I asked, worriedly. The inquiry snapped the defense professor out of his thought process and gave me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that." he mumbled then took a deep breath and clearing his throat. "Let's move on to hand movements. Watch my hand carefully. I will go slow two times then fast the other two times." I looked as he lifted his golden tanned hands. That's when I noticed the silvery, thin lines across the back of his hands and they fluctuated with tendons as he curled his slender fingers in a shape as if he were holding a wand. His hands were huge but they were slender like an artist. Despite their slender appearance, I knew they were strong. He began to sweep his arm across his body like as if he was swinging a sword, from left shoulder to the right hip and he flicked his wrist sharply up. He did it again slowly. Like promised, the third and fourth time was really fast.

"Your turn."

I nodded. I lifted up my wand to my left shoulder and swung it across my body then turn my wrist swiftly up. I felt something stirring deep in my bones, the same feeling when my wand chose me. I repeated the motion several times till it felt normal to me. I looked at Remus and he nodded, clapping my back. "How would I know if I casted the spell correctly if it is invisible?" I asked, removing my wand from my skirt's pocket.

"Oh you will know. It feels like a warm blanket has been draped over you. As you move your hand, say protego. You need to believe in it; believe in yourself. Like, for example, in your head, you say: I want to be protected. Better have the will to have a strong result. Try it."

I took a deep breath in and with magic tingling in my fingers, I swung my arm and casted: "Protego!" I want to be protected. I want to be protected. I want to be pro-

The feeling of comforting, warm presence descending over my whole body as if I was engulfed in a really huge woven blanket. I squealed as I jumped up and down. "I did it, Professor!" I looked over towards the Professor in excitement and totally lost the connection with the shield. The warmth was gone.

"Amazing, Claudia. Now, cast the shield again and keep it up! Don't lose concentration because I am going to shoot small hexes at you." Remus instructed and I nodded, quickly. I casted protego again and the warm feeling came back once again. This time, Remus stood quite a few feet away. I waited for his attack, repeating the mantra.

"Steleus!" Remus yelled and dull yellow light blasted from his wand. I shouted the mantra in my head as it hurled towards me. My arm vibrated as the spell was stopped by my shield, giving off a bright light where the spell hit it. I didn't waver and kept the shield on.

"Good job." He congratulated, grinning, a mischievous glint swimming in his eyes. "Redactum skullus!" A sparking purple spell this time and this time the spell was blocked as well. "Good that you didn't drop your shield. That spell causes your head to shrink. Steleus makes you sneeze. Expelliarmus!" That was blocked as well. "You are getting hang of this. You can drop your shield this time. I promise I won't shoot a spell."

I kept the shield on because he didn't pocket his wand but I dropped my wand slowly so I wouldn't stop the spell but I acted as if I had dropped it. His back was to me, rummaging through papers with his left hand.

Remus turned around fast and yelled, "Immobilus!"

My arm vibrated as the spell was blocked. My grin mirrored his as he clapped. "Good job for actually not dropping your guard! Your enemy will not stop attacking until you drop to the floor. But the thing to keep on surviving is to move as you protect yourself. This classroom is small to do lots of running so maybe in our tutoring services, we could go down to the Quidditch field to do some more training with this charm." I nodded at that, excitement running through my body. "You can head back to your desk."

I walked back to my desk and observed the students around me. So many bright lights and students yelling. Some hadn't shielded themselves properly and had weird disfigurement on them like elongated nose or blue-colored warts that would erupt spontaneously and from the looks of the people around him, the smell was actually good. Draco was doing good job holding his own against Edgar Bones while Parvati tried to distract him. Hermione barely glanced at Seamus as Blaise shot spells at her. She didn't even look like she was thinking about it. Pansy was shooting off small hexes one after the other at Ron, who was red in the face from the exertion. Marietta was not even paying attention and was zoning out. It was controlled chaos, if that made any sense.

Remus walked around the class once, giving out advice to students, then finally stood in front of his desk. He cleared his throat loud which made all the students drop what they are doing. "Don't even think about it, Justin." Remus called out, eyeing the kid who was barely lifting up his wand at his friend. "Now, I saw some of you get the hang of it and some of you improving. There wasn't any of you that struggled to bring up a shield or get too distracted. The class will be done in ten minutes. I want twelve inch essay about your experience and what would you like to do to improve it for the first half and the second half, I will want a paragraph or two about this charm's advanced stage which will be found in Chapter 8 in your new book. I will collect it next class. You are excused."

[Author's Note:] so sorry that I took so long to upload because of my writers block. In other note, important. One: I was reading through my old chapters and found some inconsistencies that didn't add up with the new chapters like: on earlier chapters I had killed Luna and Theo off but the most recent one they are alive well. I will go back and correct them. Sorry about that.


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